> failing to provide proof of vaccination, despite being a 100% remote worker
That seems weird. Are you only incidentally remote, or is your position officially a remote one? As in, if the company reverted "back to normal", would you still be remote without any close interactions with people on behalf of the company? If so, this demanding proof of vaccination doesn't make sense, but if not, then presumably it's hindering their ability to have you come back to the office like they would've wanted outside of the pandemic.
When I said "weird" I meant the logic was weird (read: illogical, unreasonable, etc.). I wasn't trying to claim anything about whether it was common or unusual.
One justification I’ve heard used in the past for similar types of things (requirements for smoking or not smoking or whatever) was health insurance premiums, which in the US are often paid partially or fully by the employer.
I certainly wouldn't buy that pretext for COVID-19 vaccination. Would the company let you cover health insurance yourself and stay unvaccinated?
And required what exactly? Healthy diet or vaccination for remote-only workers, because of higher health insurance premiums? IIUC, it's outright illegal for that to affect health insurance. Smoking seems to be literally the only exception for health insurance [1]:
> the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2014, prevents insurers from pricing plans according to health – with one exception: smoking status.
My employer requires flu shots for certain roles, and has for many years. Never a problem till a political party made dewormers an alternative to a vaccine.
They fired a few dozen people. Good news imo, they lost their ability to think.
It’s a mix. In this case there are no roles where a person is fully remote and would never interact with other humans in person in a business context. It’a never been a problem until recently.
I have colleagues in hospitals struggling with with similar problems. In one case, a group of medical professionals in a neonatal ICU refused covid and flu vaccines. Given the nature of the people whose care they are entrusted with, that’s unconscionable.
That seems weird. Are you only incidentally remote, or is your position officially a remote one? As in, if the company reverted "back to normal", would you still be remote without any close interactions with people on behalf of the company? If so, this demanding proof of vaccination doesn't make sense, but if not, then presumably it's hindering their ability to have you come back to the office like they would've wanted outside of the pandemic.