It’s a topic that can’t quite stand still but there’s no hiding from the fact that some sort of decision needs to be made on vaccine requirements and how those are communicated to current employees and job candidates. Came across an interesting article in HR Executive this week: Vaccine requirements to become the norm in job listings by Kathryn Mayer.
Job postings requiring vaccination doubled between September and October, according to data from the job site Ladders. Now, about 5% of all postings for high-paying jobs mention vaccine mandates—a 100% increase in just one month. And that number is expected to rise substantially in the coming months and eventually will become the standard, not the exception, experts say.
This week we held a CXR Community call so members could compare notes on how they are handling and communicating vaccine requirements. Key takeaways (other than the fact that it’s a moving target):
- The decision to mandate or not to mandate is often made at a high level and then as it trickles down to be implemented it often isn’t realistic. And this is true on either side. If not mandated, TA & HR find themselves having to keep track of state & local requirements. If mandated, TA & HR find themselves with big challenges when it comes to hourly or high volume roles – or temp / contingent workforce.
- Healthcare largely tends to follow CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) guidelines.
- Organizations with a large home-based workforce have largely opted to not require vaccines for employees who work from home. However, if those employees want to come into an office they typically have to show proof of vaccination or be tested. There was an interesting discussion around employers paying or not paying for that testing.
- Global organizations seem to have differing policies by country.
- Following the trends noted in the article above, many companies are including some sort of vaccine statement in job descriptions.
In short, it’s a moment in time. So many things are changing – dates shifting, federal rulings coming out, etc etc. It’s worth watching trends and we plan to bring the Community together again in early January to see where things have shifted.