Religious Employees Face Potential Leave Without Pay

In an email sent to employees today, employees who have requested a religious exemption from the vaccine mandate will be faced with potentially having to be on leave without pay if granted the exemption.

The administration continues to force employers to mandate the COVID 19 vaccine without regard to natural immunity or personal choice. They have taken it a step further with UT Battelle employees who request a religious exemption.

This would seem to be in direct conflict with being able to request a religious exemption in the first place. Employees whom have a religious objection having to face the consequence of not being paid is the equivalent of having no religious exemption at all.

staff members who are granted a religious exemption should be prepared to be on unpaid leave “

You can read the full email below:

We have made significant progress toward our goal of keeping the Laboratory safe from COVID-19 by vaccinating all staff members, and evaluation of requests for medical and religious exemptions has begun. Since we announced the vaccination requirement on August 26, 350 more of our colleagues have initiated or reported their vaccinations, bringing our total to over 91 percent of all staff members. We recognize that getting vaccinated has been a difficult decision for some people; thank you to those who have taken this important step to better protect our campus and fight the ongoing surge in COVID-19 in our local area.UT-Battelle employees who remain unvaccinated need to receive their first shot of the Moderna vaccine by this Friday, Sept. 17; the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by next Friday, Sept. 24; and their second shots (or the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine) by Oct. 15.

All are available through ORNL Health Services at Building 2500. See ORNL Today for hours and a sign-up link.Through yesterday’s deadline, we received 208 requests for vaccination exemptions for medical or religious reasons. These requests are being reviewed by representatives of Human Resources, Legal, and Health Services. Decisions are under way and notifications are expected to begin today.All exemption requests are considered on a case-by-case basis. If requests are denied, staff members have until Oct. 15 to receive both Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech shots or the Johnson & Johnson shot.About 30 percent of the requests for exemptions were based on medical considerations, most for temporary conditions. For instance, doctors recommend that COVID-19 patients who have received convalescent plasma wait 90 days before getting vaccinated.

When a medical accommodation is approved, it will include mitigation measures that protect the health and safety of all staff members consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act.The remaining 70 percent of our exemption requests cited religious beliefs. Determining whether religious exemptions will be granted may require discussions with employees regarding the basis for their belief and why it is inconsistent with receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.If a religious exemption is approved, we will determine whether accommodations can be made to permit these colleagues to work on campus, particularly during periods of high community transmission.

Today, the prevalence of COVID-19 in East Tennessee is at record highs, and community vaccination rates remain low, so potential accommodations such as face coverings and testing alone may not adequately protect our workforce.As a result, staff members who are granted a religious exemption should be prepared to be on unpaid leave or to use vacation time from Oct. 15 until their accommodation request can be resolved, or potentially until the end of the pandemic.

We cannot provide a fixed date when these colleagues’ return to campus is possible because accommodation decisions consider a variety of factors in addition to individual job duties, such as community conditions, the Laboratory’s ability to mitigate the risks presented by unvaccinated co-workers, and whether the accommodation puts an undue burden on the Lab.In closing, it is important to note that although we have been able to provide more than 60,000 on-site tests; instituted robust policies for contact tracing, quarantines, social distancing, and face coverings; and achieved a high vaccination rate among staff, we are still approaching 900 staff members who have contracted COVID-19. Some have suffered terribly; one has died.As a scientific institution—and one that has contributed to the fight against COVID-19—it is essential that we each model behavior that will help to stop this pandemic.Vaccinations remain the most effective means of protecting ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and our campus from COVID-19.Thank you for doing your part.

The employees have been essential and continued to work during the pandemic and now face an uncertain future for refusing to take a vaccine.

You can contact your Representatives to ensure your voice is heard on this very important issue:

• Congressman Chuck Fleischmann: 200 Administration RoadSuite 100: Oak Ridge, TN 37830 Phone: (865) 576-1976, Fax: (865) 576-3221
• Senator Bill Hagerty, 800 Market Street, Suite 112, Knoxville, TN 37902, Phone: 865-545-4253, Fax: 865-545-4252
• Senator Marsha Blackburn, 800 Market Street, Suite 121, Knoxville, TN 37902, Phone: 865-540-3781, Fax: 865-540-7952