BLOOMBERG LAW – Mondelez International Inc., the maker of Ritz Crackers and Trident gum, wants to start welcoming workers back to office this summer, though with a caveat — they must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
It’s a thorny issue for many companies as some workers are hesitant about getting the shots, and Mondelez hasn’t finalized its plan.
Yet for Chief Executive Officer Dirk Van De Put, vaccines are a way to ensure safety while restoring workplace culture and camaraderie.
“We want to create an environment where you feel comfortable and it’s like it used to be at the office,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview April 28. “We can only do that if everybody’s vaccinated.”
Vaccines loom large as U.S. companies dial up plans to bring more workers back to the office and cities ease Covid-19 restrictions, with New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio vowing a full reopening of the nation’s largest metropolis by July 1.
The New York Stock Exchange has begun opening further for traders who can prove they’re fully vaccinated and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has formulated a plan to get U.S. employees to returnto the office next month now that shots are widely available.
Some employers are pulling out all the stops for their workers to get vaccinated by offering incentives or holding inoculation drives at corporate facilities.
Surveys indicate that a significant number of companies are at least considering vaccine requirements as a condition of returning to the office, but few have publicly committed to that approach amid concerns over the potential backlash from employees, implementation headaches and legal risks that could accompany a mandate.
“I think there are many employers that would like to mandate but in fact would like to not be the first movers on this,” said Jeff Levin-Scherz, population health leader at Willis Towers Watson, a consulting firm.
A March survey by Willis Towers Watson found 23% of U.S. companies were planning or considering a vaccine mandate … Click here to read more.
