Intel employees who have not yet been vaccinated have until January 4 to apply for vaccination, submit an exemption, or provide a weekly PCR test. PCR testing is mandatory even for employees who work from home. According to the Intel announcement, employees who do not follow either of these three ways will be on the unpaid leave for at least three months. Of course, they will not be fired, and Intel guarantees that it will continue to provide healthcare benefits to unvaccinated employees. Moreover, Intel will review the exemptions by mid-March 2022.
Biden vaccine mandate has become a controversial issue
Biden’s mandate for compulsory vaccination of employees has sparked a wave of protests. Some federal courts believe the ruling may be unconstitutional. Of course, Intel did not wait for the court ruling and enforced the vaccination order. “We are closely monitoring the legal environment and expect it will take time for the case in Georgia, as well as other similar cases, to be fully resolved,” the Oregonian cited an Intel statement. Of course, there does not seem to be much opposition to this Biden order among technology companies. Most big companies have stated that they follow this order. Google puts its unvaccinated employees on 30-day administrative leave and may even decide to fire them. Facebook and Microsoft have made similar decisions against unvaccinated employees. Of course, many believe that forcing vaccination and intimidating unvaccinated employees violate human rights. Apple, meanwhile, is the only company that has not made vaccination mandatory. But unvaccinated Apple employees must provide regular tests. In the coming months, more employees will join the fight against forced vaccination, which could be a challenge for big companies.
