Bracewell’s Amy Karff Halevy and Amber K. Dodds recently explained to EHS Today that employers should carefully consider both the timing and messaging when it comes to creating a voluntary vaccination program.
Employers will likely want to set a time period during which employees must be vaccinated in order to receive the incentive, they advise. “A shorter time period could be used to encourage employees to get vaccinated as soon as it becomes available to them. A longer time period might allow employees to delay vaccination (e.g., employees who are pregnant) and still ultimately be eligible for the incentive.”
When it comes to messaging, they suggest that when it is time to discuss the incentive with workers, employers could leave open the possibility that they may choose to mandate vaccination at a later date. This would convey the message that if the employer implements a mandatory vaccination program, employees who choose not to be vaccinated during the incentive timeframe would not be eligible to receive the incentive.