North Texas Employers, Congressional Delegation React to Vaccine Mandate – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
There has been praise and criticism for President Joe Biden’s orders mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for approximately 100 million American workers.
Large North Texas employers are considering their next steps and how they will execute the mandates for those workers who are unwilling to get the shot.
Security is sacrificed at El Rancho supermarket in Garland.
They are offering employees $ 200 in incentives to get vaccinated against the virus.
“We do this because the community is important to us. We want the community to be open and we want it to be safe and to work in a safe environment, ”said Guillermo Washington, Vice President of Operations.
The large multi-site North Texas employer welcomes President Biden’s directive.
Private employers with 100 or more employees will soon have to demand that their employees receive a COVID-19 vaccine or have themselves tested weekly.
The mandate led the discussion during a congressional panel hosted by the Dallas Regional Chamber on Friday.
Members of the North Texas Congressional Delegation discussed a variety of topics including budget, infrastructure, health, and human resources.
Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson, Marc Veasey, Colin Allred and Beth Van Duyne were present.
“I don’t think the President wanted that,” said Rep. Allred about the broad mandates. “I think it’s something that was forced upon him.”
The delegation was asked to weigh up the fact that the American Hospital Association says the President’s policies “may exacerbate the serious current problems of labor shortages”.
“I don’t see a problem in that because you don’t have to get the vaccine with this order,” said Allred. “You can also test weekly. This is about public health. “
The Texas Restaurant Association also raises concerns and issues a statement stating:
“Texas restaurants share President Biden’s goal of increasing the number of Americans fully vaccinated to fight the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, we must acknowledge the strains the new mandate is placing on an industry that is undoing its hard-won recovery from critical labor shortages, food costs that have risen at the fast pace of seven years, and falling revenues. To make matters worse, this announcement comes in the same month that a tax credit is currently expiring, which is helping restaurants and other small businesses give paid vacations to employees receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
“At a time when you are struggling to hire people to keep your doors open, add extra taxes and regulations, I think this is the exact opposite path we need to go,” said Rep. Van Duyne.
PCS Advisors, a healthcare consultancy, helps medium and large employers across the country manage healthcare costs.
“28% of American employees say they are ready to lose their job before they get vaccinated. I don’t think that has changed after yesterday’s speech by the President, ”said Paul Seegert, managing partner at PCS Advisors.
Seegert informs NBC 5 that their customers in North Texas are “not enthusiastic” about the mandates.
There are still many unresolved issues with the implementation of the policy, including the additional costs such as weekly testing.
“Who pays for that?” Asks Seegert.
PCS warns its customers of their additional liability should they contravene the implementing regulation.
“The penalties announced at $ 14,000 per violation are so severe I think most of them [employers] will reluctantly participate if they do not approve of it for fear of this massive punishment, ”he said. “Employers should take this seriously. We’ve seen companies that didn’t take the Affordable Care Act and its reporting requirements seriously. They thought ‘they will never reach me’ and they get notifications today. The government collects ACA fines running into billions. “
It’s a risk some don’t want to take.
“If it is required by law, we will obey the law,” Washington said.
The President also issued vaccination orders for other employees. It includes most of the federal government employees like the 17 million nursing home and hospital workers who receive Medicare and Medicaid funding. The mandate also includes employees of the federal government programs “Head Start” and “Early Head Start”.
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