Google has issued a final warning to unvaccinated employees to send them on forced leave or fire them if they fail to follow its COVID-19 rules.
The policy will reportedly affect employees that would have fallen under the jurisdiction of President Biden’s vaccine mandate, which is currently facing challenges in the Senate and court system, The Verge quoted an internal memo obtained by CNBC.
It was learnt that the Google employees have been asked to upload proof of vaccination or receive approval for a medical or religious exemption until December 3.
The company said that those who failed to follow the orders by January 13 will be placed on a 30-day paid administrative leave.
If they’re still not in compliance after the 30 days, they could face unpaid leave for up to six months and then be terminated, according to CNBC.
The report pointed out that there may be some options for unvaccinated employees that they can look for positions that aren’t covered by it, presumably ones outside of an office.
If they find one (or already have one) they’d also have to be able to do the job remotely, The Verge reported.
Google requires in-office employees to be vaccinated, reportedly saying that frequent testing isn’t an acceptable alternative. There is also the option to request an exemption.
Though the company hasn’t determined when employees will have to come back to the office following the emergence of the omicron variant, it does expect that much of its workforce will be doing at least some work-in person. However, CNBC says that even remote workers will need to be vaccinated if they fall under the mandate.
Both pay and vaccination requirements have been hot-button issues inside the company — during a company all-hands, executives fielded a question about whether Google plans to raise wages to match inflation (the company said it didn’t plan to do so). CNBC also reported last month that an anti-vaccine mandate manifesto, signed by hundreds of employees, was shared within Google.