Covid Policy Stats And Facts You (And Your Company) Need To Know

The controversy over vaccinations continues. We are now into the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, and while we are heading away from our darkest days, people are still getting sick. Hospitalizations and death, while at much lower rates, are still a big concern. That said, we are now dealing with the pandemic as a way of life, versus the crisis we experienced during the past two years. And a big question that continues to be an issue for companies involves vaccinated and unvaccinated employees.

While people may make personal choices about getting vaccinated, the business world also has a choice: to require vaccinations or not. That choice impacts the employee experience. Company policies regarding Covid have created disagreements and conflicts among coworkers, management and leadership.

Should employees be forced to get vaccinated? Should (or can) employees be fired because they are not vaccinated? Is it discrimination to not hire unvaccinated candidates? What if an employee (or many employees) refuses to work with unvaccinated coworkers?

These are the types of questions that employers continue to ask themselves. In the quest to create an employee experience that gets people to stay in their jobs, beyond pay and benefits, a company’s Covid-19 vaccination policy can impact an employee staying, leaving or even being willing to apply for a job in the first place.

A recent study published by?MyPerfectResume ?sheds light on the choices employers are forced to make and how employees feel about these choices. They surveyed more than 900 Americans to learn about how companies are managing vaccination policies. The results give employers plenty to consider. Here are a few of the findings:

General Findings

· 83% of respondents are vaccinated against Covid-19, and 90% did it entirely of their personal choice.

· 74% prefer to work for an employer with a mandatory vaccination policy.

· 76% prefer to work with a vaccinated coworker.

· 72% say that their employers ask candidates about their vaccination status during the recruitment process.

· 61% believe that employers have the right to reject candidates if they don’t include their vaccination status on their resumes.

Vaccination Discrimination

· 63% agree that the rejection of unvaccinated candidates is discrimination.

· 57% said that unvaccinated people at their company are discriminated against.

· 44% of unvaccinated people have experienced discrimination (because of being unvaccinated).

· 61% of vaccinated workers would refuse to work with an unvaccinated coworker if they could.

Overall, people are concerned for their safety and health, as well as for their family members and loved ones. If a coworker has Covid and spreads it to others, who then go home and spread it to their family members … you can see where this is going. Who gets blamed? The coworker? The employer?

Some of the unvaccinated respondents experienced negative reactions from their bosses and coworkers. They were blamed when someone was sick. Some coworkers refused to work next to the unvaccinated. In some instances, employees were fired. Another interesting finding came from a question posed to the unvaccinated employees: Would you refuse to work with a vaccinated coworker if you could? Forty-two percent answered yes.

The conclusion is that the majority of respondents favor vaccinations, but the bigger issue is the right to choose. This article won’t give you an answer, but at least it will provide some data that could help you make your decision.

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Shep Hyken ?is a customer service and customer experience expert, keynote speaker, and New York Times, bestselling business author.?For information on Shep's virtual?training programs, go to?www.thecustomerfocus.com . Follow him on?Twitter .?

This article was originally published on?Forbes.com .

Check out Shep's latest research in his?Achieving Customer Amazement Study .