Partners Weigh In On Biden Vaccine Mandate
The proposed mandate will require businesses with 100 or more workers to either get vaccinated or get tested weekly.
September 10, 2021
Shutterstock
“We were surprised at first by the mandate. We’ve all been affected differently by this pandemic and have seen the mandate from different perspectives. For me, my team is smaller than 100 so we won’t be impacted directly. However, I don’t see it fair either for that to have to be enforced by private companies.
“The government can do more to provide education and outreach on the vaccine to help others not as informed to hopefully get them to get the vaccine. We all want life back to normal. Coming from someone who is vaccinated, I hope and trust my team will make the right decision, whatever is in their best interests, without having me or the government twist their arm to do it.”
“I believe this will continue to cause significant unnecessary disruption to businesses and the economy, just as the federal government has been doing for close to two years. No president or other government body can legally mandate what any individual American citizen must do in regards to their health care. There are many people who cannot and should not receive this vaccine. Some have legitimate health reasons as to why they cannot get it, some are hesitant and some simply do not want it. Others want it, and that is their right to choose to get the vaccine.
“There is no other circumstance in regards to a person’s healthcare that the government, or anyone else, can dictate what any or every person can or cannot do in regards to their own healthcare choices. Whether it is getting a flu shot, or taking chemotherapy for a cancer diagnosis, the government does not have the right to dictate what people do to their own bodies and the healthcare choices they make. I see a lot of people standing up and fighting against this ruling.”
“The vaccine mandate for employers will affect companies with 100 or more employees. Employers will require all employees to be vaccinated or show proof of a negative test every week to be compliant.
“Businesses and employees alike have all had their daily lives and routines forcefully modified to deal with our current collective pandemic situation. This just seems like another step in the direction to pull us all out of these difficult times and hopefully on the path to a more normal life.”
“I think it’s a great idea – [requiring the] vaccine OR weekly testing. As long as it’s convenient. However, with all the evidence the vaccine doesn’t really work as they expected (the science coming out of Israel) [which states that] vaccinated people will obtain the virus and spread it to some degree almost as much as the unvaccinated – it makes me think that the vaccine [should be] optional, and weekly testing [should be implemented] for ALL employees.
“I would be open to having this done for ALL businesses, not just over 100 employees. Especially with kids going back to school etc. It’s only a matter of time we are all exposed again. If it was convenient and able to be done at our office, I would love to have our staff tested weekly. Who would carry this burden though? Is this going to be an additional cost? Wow – what a good time to start a business providing mobile business employee covid testing… maybe we are in the wrong industry!”
“This is going to continue to divide our country and not solve our supply chain issue nor our country’s security. We need these 100+ employer corporations just like the nation needs small businesses. When you put unjustified mandates on any business you inhibit their survival and in this case inhibit hiring and retention. This is a distraction tactic by the Biden administration, so we don’t focus on the real problem at hand. If we don’t fix our supply chain problem, we are going to cripple our economy. If we don’t figure out Afghanistan and the cyber attacks – we are going to stop our economy. Look what that ransomware attack did to the pipeline…
“The channel (of less than 100) is going to prosper from the labor pool and the opportunity of outsourcing to MSPs, but this is not how we want to do business. We have bigger challenges coming. If they can disperse a man-made virus and have this impact on the world – a deadlier attack could be cyber. The Biden administration needs to focus on their “job.” Let the businesses run their business as they see fit. Free enterprise will solve its own problems if we get the government to stop mandates.”
“There is a section of the channel, of the market, that is eager to get back out there. Back to the hustle and bustle, meeting people face to face and schmoozing. I have always been remote. I rarely meet my clients face to face. So for me it has been business close to usual.
“Do I miss events? Sure. Do I think the risk to ROI ratio is sufficient to get me to events in 2021? No. When I talk to partners, channel personnel and customers, my understanding is that too big of a chunk is unvaccinated. Do I worry about getting sick or compromising my family? Absolutely. I am trying to balance that while trying to ignore people who sneer at me for still wearing my mask and using anti-bacterial or still worrying about COVID as if it has expired.”
“With only two clients of more than 100 employees, this may have little direct effect upon our operations. More broadly interpreted, though, it may well cause even further societal unrest as those opposed to mandates voice their opposition loudly.
“I am truly at a loss to understand how we can be just about the richest and most technologically advanced nations, and yet still be at war with ourselves over whether to trust our government, our institutions and our common sense.”
“It’s completely unconstitutional and a significant overreach of federal power beyond what the founding fathers intended. It’s creating a nightmare for small businesses to deal with from an HR perspective and will have numerous adverse consequences. There is nothing good about this mandate and it hurts small businesses in a big way.”
“I gladly take this opportunity to express our grave concern. This is totally unjust and is not aligned with our fundamental constitutional rights. A mandate is only an advice or suggestion not the law and has no governance as a law. To officiate a law it must be passed by the US Congress.
“In times such as these, serious caution must be taken when espousing opinions and statements such as these suggestive mandates without considering the liability, repercussions or consequences which may be lethal or involve major impact to health, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“Health choice is a personal decision made by the individual. No governing body should force, coerce or dictate an opinionated decision on an individual to do anything concerning their health in a free society, this is a violation of the U.S. Constitution, for the people by the people.”
“I gladly take this opportunity to express our grave concern. This is totally unjust and is not aligned with our fundamental constitutional rights. A mandate is only an advice or suggestion not the law and has no governance as a law. To officiate a law it must be passed by the US Congress.
“In times such as these, serious caution must be taken when espousing opinions and statements such as these suggestive mandates without considering the liability, repercussions or consequences which may be lethal or involve major impact to health, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“Health choice is a personal decision made by the individual. No governing body should force, coerce or dictate an opinionated decision on an individual to do anything concerning their health in a free society, this is a violation of the U.S. Constitution, for the people by the people.”
The Department of Labor made an interesting move yesterday. The department proposed mandating that employees either must get vaccinated or face mandatory weekly testing. This applies to all businesses with 100 or more workers.
President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered the sweeping new federal vaccine requirements for as many as 100 million Americans. This includes private-sector employees, health care workers and federal contractors. The proposed mandate is an all-out attempt to curb the spiking COVID-19 delta variant.
A Presidential “Time Is Up”
According to AP News, the president directly addressed the tens of millions of Americans who are not yet vaccinated, despite months of availability and incentives.
“We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” he said. The unvaccinated minority “can cause a lot of damage, and they are.”
Legal Insights
Keith Wilkes, a labor and employment partner/shareholder at the national law firm Hall Estill, has been fielding inquiries about the announcement.
“The emergency OSHA rule will require all private sector employers with at least 100 employees to mandate vaccinations in their workforce or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis. [This] is expected to impact over 80 million private sector workers,” Wilkes says.
“OSHA, which falls under the U.S. Department of Labor, will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement the new rule. Although the timing of when the ETS requirement will go into effect is not clear, it will likely not be a long wait. The federal government did its legal homework before implementing the same mandate, via Executive Order, for federal employees in July. Today, however, President Biden announced that he is removing the regular testing option for federal employees and employees of all federal contractors.”
To Get Vaccinated, or Not to Get Vaccinated
Employers impacted by the new OSHA rule will be required to explore their options. They will need to figure out whether reasonable accommodation exists for those employees who seek refuge from the vaccination mandate. This could be because of a sincerely held religious belief, or a disability-based reason.
“Absent falling into one of those two categories, unvaccinated private sector employees who fall under this new rule will have no choice but to obtain full vaccination if they wish to keep their current job,” says Wilkes.
With such a divisive decree on the table, we wanted to know what our partners think. What does this mean for the channel? What are the challenges that will occur as a result?
Click through our gallery above to see what partners had to say.
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like