United Airlines Employees Who Do Not Get Vaccinated Will Have to Do This

United Airlines will not be firing workers who do not get the Covid-19 vaccination, but they will be doing something else to them.

Staff of the company who has been granted religious exemptions to the vaccine mandate will instead be put on unpaid leave.

United Airlines’ employees who are granted exemptions to a company vaccinate mandate for religious reasons will be put on temporary unpaid leave starting next month, the airline told staff Wednesday.

Staff who are given medical exemptions for not getting the vaccine will be put on temporary medical leave.

In August United Airlines had said that its 67,000-person U.S. workforce must be vaccinated against Covid-19 this fall, but said it would consider exemptions for religious and personal beliefs as well as medical reasons.

Delta Air Lines also isn’t making it easy for those who don’t want to get inoculated by imposing a $200 surcharge on unvaccinated employees’ company health care premiums.

United also said that if an employee’s request for a religious exemption is denied, they must be vaccinated within five weeks of the denial notice and get the first shot by Sept. 27, or they
will be terminated.

Pilots, flight attendants, gate agents and airport customer service agents who interact with customers who are granted those exemptions can return to work “once the pandemic meaningfully recedes,” United said. No time frame was given.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.