N.Y. Court Employees Will Be Fired Unless They Get Vaccinated

​The New York Office of Court Administration on March 21 informed more than 150 employees that they would be fired unless they complied with the office's vaccine requirement by early April. We've gathered articles on the news from SHRM Online and other media outlets.

April 4 Deadline

The office told 156 court employees that they must submit proof that they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by April 4 or they will lose their jobs. The employees also were informed that any requests for medical or religious exemptions would be too late and not considered.

(Lawyer Monthly)

Four Unvaccinated Judges

Four judges are among the unvaccinated employees. The Office of Court Administration can't fire judges, but the judges can be forced to work from home, barred from conducting arraignments or referred to the Commission on Judicial Conduct. The affected 156 employees currently are barred from entering any court facility until they have proof of getting vaccinated, and their absences are being charged to any accruals they may have.

(New York Post) and (Reuters)

'Double Standard'

Critics of the vaccination policy say there's a "double standard" in which judges have been allowed to ignore the requirement and work from home while nonjudicial court employees who break the rule aren't allowed to work and are having their vacation days docked as they face the prospect of being fired.

(Law360)

Unions Protest

Over a dozen unions representing court employees in New York will appear before the Public Employment Relations Board on April 5, a day after the deadline, to argue that the vaccine requirement violates labor laws.

(New York Daily News)

Supreme Court Ruling's Effect on Employers

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) vaccine-or-testing rule for large employers—and OSHA has officially withdrawn the directive—businesses may want to review their COVID-19-related workplace policies.

OSHA's emergency temporary standard would have required businesses with at least 100 employees to ensure workers are vaccinated against the coronavirus or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing by Feb. 9.

In light of the high court's ruling, some employers may decide to drop plans to require vaccination or administer weekly testing programs. Other businesses might retain policies that align with OSHA's now-halted ETS.

(SHRM Online)