Whiplash! Changing Regulatory Mandates for COVID

Following the ruling, Biden said, “I call on business leaders to immediately join those who have already stepped up – including one third of Fortune 100 companies – and institute vaccination requirements to protect their workers, customers, and communities.”

The organizations that have already instituted their mandates include major companies such as United Airlines and Tyson Foods.

In fact, United Airlines was one of the first large corporations to impose a vaccine mandate. As CEO Scott Kirby explained to Bloomberg Opinion, he told 67,000 U.S. employees that they would lose their jobs if they weren’t vaccinated by September 27th. Of course, his number one risk was how much staffing he would lose – instead, roughly 99.7% of United’s workforce was vaccinated by the end of November.

Yet three of the largest employers in the country, Walmart, Amazon, and JPMorgan Chase, have not issued requirements for their employees – and many others are quiet on the issue as they decide which way to lean.

Some smaller companies that decided to require vaccinations or testing feel frustrated by the Supreme Court ruling, as they feel they don’t have federal support for their mandates.

On the other hand, just days after the ruling, the world’s largest coffeehouse chain, Starbucks, reversed its policy requiring its American workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. “We respect the court’s ruling and will comply,” Starbucks COO John Culver wrote in the memo sent to employees.

Losing employees at a time like this, when the Great Resignation has already caused various consequences, from revenue loss to costs of new technology, may not be an option.