4 Tips for Encouraging Workers to Stay Up to Date With Their COVID Vaccines

COVID-19 vaccination is vital to:

• Keeping your employees healthy and safe.
• Maintaining business operations.

Here are 4 tips to help you encourage workers to stay up to date with their COVID vaccines.

1. Normalize Getting Vaccinated and Staying Up to Date

Encouraging workers to get vaccinated begins with normalizing the behavior. People are more likely to get vaccinated if they:

• Know others who are vaccinated.
• Believe that refusal to vaccinate is abnormal behavior.

Talk about vaccination in the workplace:

• Share your vaccination story with your employees. Show pride in your decision to get vaccinated.
• Encourage others to talk about their experiences with vaccination.
• Visually promote vaccination. For example, you can post pro-vaccination signage around the workplace. You can also wear stickers that say, "I got my COVID-19 vaccine."
• Thank employees when they get vaccinated.

2. Educate Your Employees

Make sure your employees understand your workplace policies regarding COVID and vaccination. Consistency and frequency of your communications are key.

Also, share information about the virus and the vaccines from trusted sources. This helps:

• Build vaccine confidence.
• Dispel COVID vaccine misconceptions.

The best sources of information include:

• Your local health department
• Health care providers (such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists)
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Consider inviting local experts to staff meetings where they can address employees’ questions and concerns. Local experts include a health care provider or someone from your local health department.

Encourage employees to talk to their own health care provider if they continue to have questions or concerns.

Check out How to Talk About COVID-19 Vaccines With Friends and Family for tips on how to address people’s questions and concerns.

3. Make Vaccination Easy

Help workers find vaccines. You can find vaccines near you at vaccines.gov.

Consider hosting a vaccination clinic in your workplace or partnering with an off-site clinic.

Provide workers enough paid time off to:

• Get vaccinated.
• Get over any vaccine side effects that may affect their ability to work.

Consider providing or covering the costs of:

• Transportation to and from a vaccination site.
• Childcare for employees’ children while they’re getting vaccinated.

These are common barriers to vaccination in many communities.

4. Consider Incentives

Prizes, rewards, or financial incentives may motivate employees to get vaccinated.

Make sure whichever method you choose is fair. Also, the incentive doesn’t have to be costly. In return for getting vaccinated, employers have offered:

• Cash bonuses
• Extra paid time off
• Gift cards
• Tickets to events
• Food
• Coupons
• Company swag

It’s legal under federal law for employers to require proof of vaccination from employees. However, states differ on what they allow employers to do and to ask of employees. Check your state’s laws before starting an incentive program that requires proof of vaccination.