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Southwest Airlines is dropping plans to take unpaid leave of absence from December for unvaccinated workers awaiting medical or religious exemption.
Instead, employees whose accommodations have not been reviewed or approved by December 8th will have to keep working.
“The employee will continue to work in compliance with all COVID mask and distancing guidelines applicable to his position until the accommodation has been processed,” says an internal notice that was sent to the employees and received by FOX Business.
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A Southwest Airlines representative helps a customer. (AP / AP newsroom)
Earlier this month, Southwest became the newest airline to require its employees to be vaccinated by December 8, although it still gave employees the option to request medical or religious exemptions.
SOUTHWEST PILOTS ‘UNION ASK COURT TO DELAY THE VACCINATION MANDATE
The Dallas-based airline said it has started mandating vaccines for its 54,000 employees in order to comply with the new Biden administration rules that require companies under federal contracts to have fully vaccinated employees.
“I encourage all Southwest employees to comply with the federal policy as soon as possible because we value each individual and want to ensure job security for all,” said CEO Gary Kelly in a statement earlier this month.
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The airline said it still intends to grant “valid” medical or religious exemption requests.
However, in the event that an application is not granted, Southwest announced that “an employee will be given sufficient time to be fully vaccinated while continuing to work and complying with safety protocols.”
American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue also require staff to be vaccinated. United Airlines was the first major airline to do this in August. Since then, more than 97% of its employees have been vaccinated, the airline said. United also said it would take unpaid leave of absence for employees who couldn’t get the syringes for medical or religious reasons until COVID-19 rates drop.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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