It’s Permissible to Offer Employee Incentives for Vaccines

Both the federal government and NYS are trying to encourage workers to get vaccinated.

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that employers may offer financial incentives to employees to get vaccinated as long as such incentives are not “coercive.”  Because the vaccination process requires the individual to supply personal medical information, the EEOC cautions that large financial incentives may “coerce” employees into revealing such information.  

In other words, employers may offer relatively modest incentives for vaccination. The EEOC also indicated employers may offer incentives to employees for disclosing vaccination information obtained from third parties like pharmacies, private physicians or clinics.  

NY Paid Sick Leave Available for Recovery from Vaccine

Also, today, Governor Cuomo announced that employees who fall ill due to side effects from receiving a COVID vaccine will be allowed to use employer-paid sick leave for such illness. This leave is in addition to the paid time off to receive the vaccine.

The New York State Department of Labor has issued guidance on the use of paid sick leave for illness related to the vaccination.  The guidance may be found here. 

Jim McGrath will talk more about these updates during the June 3, 2021 Bagels with Bieber Webinar: Wage And Hour Compliance In 2021. Click here to register.