Flu Shots

Bullion

We are a non-profit organization that employees mostly Social Workers and Nurses. These employees go into client's homes with children less than 2 years of age. Can we make it maditory that these employees take the flu shot? The organization will pay for the shot.

Beverlee

To the best of my knowledge, no. There are so many different strains of influenza, and no guarantee that the type of flu one may get is preventable with the vaccination du jour.

We, too, are a non-profit with an EMS department. We make the shots available at no cost to employees, but not mandatory. What if an employee was allergic?

All My Best~

davids

I don't think you can require an employee to have a flu shot. Employees may have medical, religious or other reasons why they don't want the shot/vaccine.

We have employees (police, fire, wastewater treatment) whose jobs put them in situations where exposure to communicable disease is high. We offer hepatitis shots at the employer's expense, but employees can decline.

We also offer on-site flu shot clinics in coordination with a local health care provider and our health insurance provider. The cost of the flu shot is fully covered by the health insurance. But, again, they are not mandatory.

Susan in La

We are a state health care facility and the same question came up. The answer was no we can't require, just offer, promote and make available for free. We are planning an employee health fair in November where they can get blood pressure checks and other health screenings. The flu shots will be available. Still, more than half of our staff typically don't take advantage of it.