Ford Will Impose Mandate to Have Most of Its Employees Vaccinated for Covid-19

Automaker Ford is the latest company to impose a Covid vaccine mandate on its employees.

The company will require U.S. salaried employees to be vaccinated by Dec. 8 or face unpaid leave.

The automaker sent out a message to Ford’s roughly 32,000 salaried employees about the mandate this week according to CNBC.

The company said it will consider religious and medical exemptions for employees who can’t get the vaccines, said spokeswoman Monique Brentley.

Employees of Ford who refuse to get vaccinated and do not have an approved medical or religious accommodation will be put on unpaid leave with job protection for up to 30 days, the company said in an emailed statement.

It is not clear what happens after those 30 days.

“The health and safety of our workforce remains our top priority and we have been very encouraged by the support of our employees to comply with our protocols, including the more than 84-percent of U.S. salaried employees who are already vaccinated,” Brentley said in a separate emailed statement.

“As we continue to put measures in place to protect our team, Ford will now require most U.S. salaried employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dec. 8, which also aligns to federal contractor guidelines.”

Some of Ford’s business are categorized as being a federal contractor, according to Brentley.

Currently the mandate does not include factory workers, parts depots and its Ford Credit financial arm. The company is analyzing federal and collective bargaining requirements for those workers, according to Brentley.

The United Auto Workers union told CNBC it will review the impact of the vaccine mandate on its more than 700 contracts after it is published.

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