religious exemption for vaccines letter georgia

So Troup informed them they'd have to undergo regular COVID-19 testing. Presented with the list, the employees who had requested religious exemptions still declined the vaccines. 'They need to know that if they're going to be consistent in their beliefs, that applies to a lot of different things other than the COVID vaccine,' Troup says. As part of an education campaign, Conway Regional Health System sent this form out to employees who requested religious exemptions to the hospital's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

He asked employees to attest to not be using any of those medicines. But the vaccines themselves do not contain any fetal cells.)īefore granting the religious exemptions, Troup sent the employees a list of 28 commonly used medicines that also used fetal cells in their research, testing or development - a list that includes Tylenol, Motrin, Tums, Ex-Lax and other medicine cabinet staples. Other fetal cell lines are being used in the production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. ( Public health officials say fetal cell lines developed decades ago in the laboratory were used to develop and test the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines - a common practice in pharmaceutical research. Their objections were largely based on the employees' beliefs that vaccines that used fetal cells in research, testing or production should not be put in their bodies. In Conway, Ark., Matt Troup, CEO of Conway Regional Health System, has granted 45 religious exemptions to employees who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine. What one employer deems to be reasonable, another may not. What's reasonable when it comes to a reasonable accommodation? It does not have to be the accommodation requested by the employee. If the employer determines the belief is not sincere, it may deny the exemption request.īut even if an employee's religious belief is determined to be sincere, it's the employer who decides what the reasonable accommodation will be. They may ask questions about that employee's vaccination history or church attendance. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says employers must provide reasonable accommodations for workers who have sincerely held religious beliefs - unless doing so poses an undue hardship.įirst, employers may probe whether an employee's religious belief is in fact sincere. The right to request a religious exemption stems from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects workers from discrimination on the basis of religion, among other things. What are employer obligations to workers when it comes to religious exemptions? Under the law, employers have a lot of discretion when granting religious exemptions.

Already, some employers are taking a harder line than others. How many of those requests will ultimately be approved is unknown. In Los Angeles, roughly a quarter of the police department is expected to seek religious exemptions. In Washington, D.C., more than 400 fire and emergency medical workers applied for religious exemptions to the city's vaccine mandate. More and more employers are ordering workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 without the option of getting tested instead. John the Divine in New York City sits empty as the rush for vaccinations winds down in June. Listen The waiting area of a pop-up vaccination site at the Cathedral of St.

Religious exemption for vaccines letter georgia