Updated April 30, 2021
Will you require your bakery staff to get vaccinated?
A recent Restaurant Business survey cited that only 20.4% of restaurant employers intent to mandate the shot for their employees.
As the vaccine has become more available across the U.S., restaurants and retailers are finetuning their strategies and incentives. Dollar General, Aldi, and Trader Joe’s are all offering two to four extra hours of pay as an incentive to get vaccinated. McDonald’s is paying staff to be vaccinated.
Read on for a few tips on how to incorporate the vaccine into your business in 2021 and beyond.
First, is it legal to require COVID vaccination?
The short answer is yes. Vaccine requirements do not violate employees’ rights if exceptions are made for religious beliefs or certain medical conditions.
In the past, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission allowed companies to mandate vaccines, including flu shots. In 2020, the EEOC indicated that employers could require COVID-19 vaccinations, but most so far are only encouraging them.
Government incentives
In April 2021, the White House announced a tax credit for small- and medium-sized businesses to fully offset the cost of paid leave for employees to get vaccinated and recover from any after-effects of vaccination.
According to the American Rescue Plan, “a paid leave tax credit will offset the cost for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 500 employees for up to 80 hours (i.e. 10 work days) up to $511 per day of paid sick leave offered between April 1 and September 30, 2021. This tax credit will allow these employers to provide paid leave for employees to get a COVID-19 vaccination and for any time their employees may need to recover from that vaccination at no cost to the employer.”
Click here to learn how to claim the paid sick leave credit on your quarterly tax filings.
If you choose not to mandate, but want to strongly encourage vaccination, consider incentives like…
- Extended PTO or special bonuses
- Pins or badges for those vaccinated
- Coordinating appointments and facilitating flexible schedules
“You want to stagger the vaccinations,” said Dr. David Acheson, CEO of The Acheson Group, a global food safety consulting agency. “You don’t want to administer the vaccine to your entire workforce in one morning if some are then going to be out for 24 hours with side effects.”
What about perks for vaccinated customers?
In late March, Krispy Kreme announced they’re offering free glazed donuts every day in 2021, as long as customers show their vaccination card.
This is an interesting PR move that’s already garnered a lot of positive and controversial buzz. For one, those against or hesitant to receive vaccines have their own offer of free donuts, but only on Mondays through May. Slate.com says,
It seems that Krispy Kreme, while developing a feel-good corporate promotion, ran into a cold, hard truth about America: You can’t even give away a free doughnut without stepping into a culture war. The discourse over these free doughnuts has already involved a public debate about the health risks of weight gain. It’s not clear if the company already had warning signs of a pushback, or if it wanted to preemptively head off such a firestorm. However it went down, it’s clear the company continues to be worried about appeasing the anti-vaxxer portion of its customer base.
Here’s one idea that’s less controversial:
Raise community funds so youc an donate baked goods to vaccine centers, hospitals, and police stations.
Whatever you decide:
Education is key for staff to understand their options, and OVER-communication is key for customers to trust and support your business.
For more resources
- Confusion, Uncertainty Mount As Restaurants Consider COVID Vaccine [Restaurant Business]
- Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccine Programs [Bake Magazine]
- 50% of restaurants plan to incentivize employees to get vaccinated, survey says [Restaurant Dive]
- Should Restaurants Mandate COVID-19 Vaccinations for Employees? [FSR Magazine]
