05/11/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 05/11/2021 13:22
The current rollout of COVID-19 vaccines amid varying public views on their safety and efficacy has resulted in employers grappling with different levels of policies. Organizations are deciding whether to implement mandatory vaccination policies, incentivized vaccination policies, or strategies that leave it up to employees to decide whether they will be vaccinated - all while continuing to enforce other workplace safety measures.
Whether or not your organization decides* to enforce mandatory vaccinations, you might need solutions to plan for, track and report on vaccine status for their workforces and/or patients. Additionally, employees need a way to securely self-attest their health status - whether they've been vaccinated, when the doses were administered and which vaccine they received.
New processes bring new questions
Managing vaccine records poses new questions and requirements for employers. Depending on the policy they move forward with, organizations will need to create a number of new processes to:
Additionally, employers must keep employees' vaccination status and underlying conditions confidential in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and, if applicable, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Whether an employer may require or mandate COVID-19 vaccination is a matter of state or other applicable law. If an employer requires employees to provide proof that they have received a COVID-19 vaccination from a pharmacy or their own healthcare provider, the employer cannot mandate that the employee provide any medical information as part of the proof.
Moving forward, employers will need to stay current on forthcoming legal developments, which may include new recommendations from public health authorities and/or worker protections from federal or state agencies. Employers need this data in order to plan for different scenarios and make real time decisions regarding who returns to the office/work space, capacity for certain sites/buildings and more.
Digital processes for vaccination documentation
To create new vaccine processes and policies so that they're effective and easy to follow, organizations need to approach them in a digital-first way. With the DocuSign Agreement Cloud for HR, teams can take advantage of electronic signature technology, pre-built templates, PowerForms and DocuSign's integrations with Workday, ServiceNow, Salesforce and other systems.
By creating these new processes in a digital-first way, organizations will be able to:
To get started, learn more about the DocuSign Agreement Cloud for Human Resources.
*DocuSign understands the sensitivity of this topic and is not encouraging employers to track or not to track employee vaccinations. Rather, we are here to provide solutions for employers to navigate the many challenges presented by Covid-19, including helping to generate, distribute, and collect employee signatures on documents.