General Motors has required all of its salaried employees in the U.S. to state whether or whether not they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The car manufacturer recently confirmed that it confidentially asked its 48,000 white-collar workers to disclose their vaccination status. GM said it did so to assess overall immunity levels and guide its safety protocols moving forward. The survey went out earlier this month and employees were required to respond by August 23. Employees stating they were fully vaccinated were also required to submit proof.
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“The reporting of our employees’ vaccination status is helping GM Medical assess the overall immunity of our employee population and determine when GM should relax or strengthen certain COVID-19 safety protocols… such as mask-wearing, physical distancing and facility occupancy rates,” GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal said in a statement. “In an effort to improve our data collection, we took the first step with our U.S. salaried employees to put a process in place for mandatory reporting. We will maintain the voluntary reporting of vaccine status and encourage our hourly employees to continue to report in the voluntary system.”
General Motors does not require its hourly workforce members to disclose their vaccination status. Speaking with the Detroit Free Press, UAW president Ray Curry said the union leaves vaccination as a voluntary decision, but does encourage vaccination.
Curry added that the union has not been approached by General Motors nor any other car manufacturer about a mandated vaccine process but said the UAW “would be willing to sit down with the respective bargainers and employers at each location to have that discussion.”
