Although United is granting accommodations for employees who have a valid medical or religious reason not to get vaccinated, it disclosed this week there would be costs for those who cite their religious belief as a reason not to be vaccinated.
“Given our focus on safety and the steep increases in Covid infections, hospitalizations and deaths, all employees whose request is approved will be placed on temporary, unpaid personal leave on October 2 while specific safety measures for unvaccinated employees are instituted,” said United’s memo to employees. “Given the dire statistics…we can no longer allow unvaccinated people back into the workplace until we better understand how they might interact with our customers and their vaccinated co-workers.”
United said a decision on whether to accept an employee’s religious objections to vaccination would be made on a case-by-case basis.
“We are working hard to ensure the safety of our employees and customers while accommodating those employees who have sincerely held religious beliefs,” said the airline’s statement.
United has 67,000 active US employees covered by the mandate. Virtually all non-management employees are represented by a union.
The major unions at United did not object to the airline’s original statement on a vaccine mandate in August. Most did not respond to questions Friday about whether they objected to the ariline’s stance on religious exemptions.
“We are reviewing our legal and contractual options to support these pilots,” said the Air Line Pilots Association in response to a question.
United employees placed on unpaid leave do not receive other benefits, such as medical insurance, although they can maintain coverage by paying the full premium themselves under Cobra. They do maintain their seniority with the company during the unpaid leave. And seniority is a major factor in determining employees’ work conditions, compensation and hours of work in the airline industry.
United employees who have a medical reason for not getting vaccinated will be placed on paid leave, said United spokesperson Leslie Scott.
— CNN’s Kwegyirba Croffie contributed to this report