There are a lot of job openings in the country right now. Workers have gained negotiating power for better wages, hours, bonuses, etc. One thing that some companies are not willing to negotiate about is whether people are vaccinated or not. As Delta rages in the country more companies are saying if you are not vaccinated don’t even bother applying for a job with them. That is a controversial stance for many in this country as many will argue what about my personal freedom?
Well the Supreme Court has ruled companies are people and people do have rights so they can make their own decisions. Even more on point we live in a capitalistic economy and it just makes good business sense for them to demand vaccinated people. Companies lose a lot of money every year paying for people who are not on the job because they are out sick. Other workers are often left to pick up the slack. That is fine for a day or two but after a while that can become a hardship on the remaining workers. Soon it is reasonable that their performance will slip and that has a negative impact on everyone including the bottom line. We know unvaccinated people are much more likely to have a serious illness with Covid if they are not vaccinated. If I am a company I save myself some money and hardship if I just hire the vaccinated.
Many companies now offer healthcare benefits. The treatment for someone who gets very sick from Covid is very expensive between hospital stays, ventilators, drug cocktails, etc. The insurance company is going to pass that hit onto the policy holder which is the business. As a business I’d be stupid not to insist you get a free shot so I can reduce my risk of paying for your decision not to get a free shot.
What happens if someone has a medical condition or a religious reason not to get the shot? That is where a company may run into difficulties as now we are talking about discrimination against protected classes of people. My guess is that they would have to offer some type of testing program that could be substituted in those instances.
In a capitalist economy and a society that values freedom it would seem crazy to expect companies not to insist their work force is vaccinated if for no other reason to save their bottom line. We will discuss this and more on Tuesday’s Davin’s Den at 6:30 PM Est.