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Originally Posted by NoHaveMSG
A close friend of mine that works in sales was told for their company, only vaccinated people will be allowed in the office. All others will continue wfh. That is how they are dealing with it. Though their HR personal does not believe they can enforce it due to Hipaa.
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An employer can ask health related questions as long as they are kept confidential and treated like health records. This goes beyond COVID of course, but the vaccination falls under that guidance. Employers (at least in every state I work) ask health related questions all the time as part of the hiring and continued employment process. Technically, a drug test is a medical record, and I've had one for every job I've taken since the late 90's.
This is a good article that explains how the EEOC has already approved employers requiring vaccination, the 4 exceptions, and how they have to treat it as a medical record.
I work for a hospital system that is very conscious of HIPAA requirements, yet to continue to work there I have to have all the "standard" vaccinations, take a TB test every year, and get a flu shot.