Hosted By: Warner
We held the second in Warner’s Virtual Automotive Executive Roundtable Series on June 16, 2021, focused on human resources challenges and issues, where Warner’s labor and employment and employee benefits attorneys discussed these topics affecting automotive suppliers and manufacturers:
- Vaccinations and return to work issues.
- Retirement plan concerns.
- Health and welfare plan challenges.
- Employment litigation trends.
Some key takeaways:
- Can employers mandate the vaccine? The short answer is, yes. If you chose to mandate the vaccine, you must accommodate individuals with a medical condition or a sincerely-held religious belief. Make sure your supervisors are trained to provide any required accommodations.
- If employers opt not to mandate the vaccine, they may still offer some incentives to encourage vaccination, however, make sure those incentives are available in a uniform manner.
- When addressing suspected abuses of leave, be sure to establish a standard and apply rules on a consistent basis. Treat any violation of workplace conduct consistently.
- There are three benefits trends which we saw during COVID-19 which you might consider. Those include telehealth benefits, expanding mental health benefits, and continuing benefits for terminated/furloughed employees (for example extending life insurance coverage).
- Be sure to maintain confidentiality as it relates to vaccination status. Information about an employee’s status is considered confidential medical information which should be maintained separately from their benefits and personnel records. Employers should not discuss/share an employees’ vaccination status or if any accommodations have been made (e.g., why is one team member working from home when others have returned to work?).
If you would like to view the recording of the discussion, please contact our Events Manager, Lori Folkertsma.
Look for future Automotive Executive Roundtable Series invitations for upcoming events scheduled for:
September 8, 2021 – TBD
November 17, 2021 – TBD
