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Congressional
*Research Service
informing he gistive debate since 194
COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements:
Potential Constraints on Employer Mandates
Under Federal Law
February 10, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced unprecedented workplace changes and raised a host of legal issues.
Employers may struggle with how to protect workers from infection, avoid disruptions that may result
from sick leave and employee quarantines, and manage potential liability if an employee contracts the
virus at work. Some have noted employers' plans to encourage or require COVID-19 vaccinations for
workers as they become available. Policies will undoubtedly vary. Observers expect that health care,
travel, and retail businesses will more likely mandate or encourage vaccines, while those with less
customer interaction and more work-at-home capacity may defer to employee choice on whether to seek
vaccination. Some expect that smaller businesses, too, may be more likely to require vaccination, because
a wave of infection among a smaller staff could shut down operations. In accordance with guidance from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), many health care providers already mandate
annual flu vaccination, providing an informative precedent for COVID-19 vaccination policies.
Whatever approach vaccination-policy decisionmakers consider, federal antidiscrimination statutes,
among other laws, may inform, and perhaps constrain, the implementation of vaccination mandates.
Federal civil rights laws do not bar vaccination mandates by private and state government employers, but
they may affect their scope. Some laws, for example, restrict employers from making certain medical
examinations or inquiries, while others require employers to consider workers' religious objections to
vaccination and potential disabilities preventing vaccination. The coronavirus pandemic is unique and,
thus far, courts have not evaluated vaccination requirements in this context. But the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces these federal civil rights laws in employment, has
issued guidance on COVID-19 and vaccination policies. In addition, an underlying principle of many
employment antidiscrimination laws that call for accommodation is reasonableness. Concerns about
employees spreading COVID-19 will likely weigh heavily in any challenge to a vaccine mandate.
This Sidebar provides a general background, in light of recent EEOC guidance and courts' prior
adjudication of employer vaccine mandates, on federal antidiscrimination statutes (including the
Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) relevant to
employers or lawmakers crafting vaccination requirements. In addition, the Sidebar briefly considers
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10573
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govecdm0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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