BEAUMONT, Texas — One after another, vaccine requirements are being instated across businesses.
United Airlines announced Friday it now requires all of their employees to be vaccinated. This makes them the first major US airline to make the move.
Since the COVID-19 vaccine came out, people have been wondering if their job would require them to be vaccinated.
Non-government agencies are permitted to require the vaccine. So, at the end of the day, they get to make the rules.
"We deal with different kinds of people on a daily basis, so we do not want to be the one or the cost to spread the virus or spread anything to anybody" Cat Altmirano, the owner of Sachi's Cakes in Beaumont said.
Dozens of people cycle through her store every day. She said for now, she doesn't plan on requiring her employees to get vaccinated.
“I understand and believe in their freedom to choose it, especially for some of my employees that have like fertility concerns and stuff like that, so I couldn't mandate them or like require them to do so," Altmirano said.
But, what about employers who feel differently? Can they mandate vaccines for workers? The short answer is yes.
“A private sector employer can mandate that the employees in the private sector, which are mainly at will employees that they be vaccinated," said Attorney David Starnes of David W. Starnes Attorney at Law.
He said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states private sectors can have a vaccine requirement.
Similar to Altmirano, Jeremiah Medina of Boomtown BBQ said he'll trusts his staff to make the best decision for themselves.
"Most of us are already vaccinated for the most part,” Medina said. “Our owners are really leaving it up to us whether or not we want to."
Ultimately, religious beliefs and medical reasons are the only exceptions to not following the vaccine requirement, but it is still left up to the employer to decide.
"As the employer, you can decide what are the reasonable accommodations you offer to that employee to remain an employee,” Starnes said. “It may be that the employee doesn’t want to stay there because of the accommodations or burdens for that employee."