Disney Pauses Worker Vaccine Mandate After Florida’s Ban

Nov. 22, 2021 — The Walt Disney Company has paused its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers at its theme parks in Florida after state lawmakers banned employers from requiring staff to get vaccinated.

Walt Disney World may have confronted fines below the coverage, an organization spokesperson instructed The New York Times. The Biden administration has ordered vaccinations for staff in massive corporations, however Florida and different states have challenged the mandate in court docket.

The Florida legislature handed a invoice blocking COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into regulation on Thursday. The new rule was promoted as an effort to guard staff who may lose their jobs.

“Nobody should lose their job due to heavy-handed COVID mandates, and we had a responsibility to protect the livelihoods of the people of Florida,” DeSantis mentioned in an announcement.

The Florida regulation prevents employers from implementing strict vaccine mandates and permits staff to request exemptions as a consequence of well being or non secular considerations, a earlier coronavirus an infection, or being pregnant or anticipated being pregnant. The regulation additionally says unvaccinated staff can get common testing or put on protecting tools.

The fines for violating the ban may very well be $10,000 per day per every worker violation for companies with fewer than 99 staff. For bigger companies, fines may very well be as much as $50,000 per worker violation.

In August, Disney World reached a take care of staff to require theme park staff to be absolutely vaccinated towards the coronavirus to maintain their jobs. The firm defended that rule once more on Saturday, the Times reported.

“We believe that our approach to mandatory vaccines has been the right one as we’ve continued to focus on the safety and well-being of our cast members and guests,” the corporate mentioned.

More than 90% of energetic forged members in Florida have verified that they’re absolutely vaccinated, the newspaper reported. The Walt Disney Company mentioned the pause will stay in impact whereas the corporate assesses the brand new state regulation, in line with an inner memo obtained by FOX 35 News in Orlando.

Florida-based forged members and staff who haven’t verified their vaccination standing can be required to observe security protocols for unvaccinated folks, together with face coverings and bodily distancing, the inner memo mentioned.

The firm additionally encourages visitors to observe security protocols by sporting face coverings, checking for signs, and getting vaccinated.

“We encourage people to get vaccinated,” the corporate mentioned.