OVIEDO, Fla. — When a vaccine is widely available, will employees get it, or could their employers even require them to get it?  A restaurant owner and attorney weighed in on how it could play out.


What You Need To Know

  • A COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be available soon

  • Some employers are wondering if they can require employees to get the vaccine

  • Legal expert says the issue will likely be decided in court

It’s been quite a year for restaurant owners like Leigh-Ann Tepper. Tepper, who owns The Town House Restaurant in Oviedo, went from shutting down at the start of the pandemic to increasing capacity, to now decreasing her capacity thanks to a spike in coronavirus cases. 

She says when a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available, she’ll treat it much like she does the flu shot for her employees.

“For the flu shots every year I do encourage employees to go get a flu shot — I think it’s important for them and I encourage them to,” said Tepper. “But I don’t know that I really feel comfortable insisting that anybody get any kind of a shot.”

Attorney Jaya Balani says employers in some areas like the healthcare industry could require employees to get the vaccine, even those workers who might be skeptical about its safety.

“Certain jobs can’t do their jobs from home, and at that point if you can’t perform your job and you are putting other people at risk by not having it, the courts may look at that and say it’s an issue for society on whether or not it’s better for you to have the vaccine and make it mandatory for that specific job,” said Balani.

Balani says because the vaccine was developed so quickly, ultimately what employers are legally allowed to do will be decided in court after some employees file legal challenges.

“They’re going to try to stop it, they’re going to go after larger employers to have them not require the vaccinations,” said Balani.

While Balani believes judges will rule on a case-by-case basis, she said some cases could rise all the way up to the Supreme Court, where general precedents for employers and employees could be established.

Tepper says no matter what happens with the vaccine, she’s preparing to keep the cleaning, masks, and social-distancing going for several more months to keep her workers and patrons safe.

“I feel like we’ve been doing a good job being careful, so I think we’ll just keep that up,” she said.​