Major U.S. Bank Threatens to Not Pay Unvaccinated Employees: 'We're Not Going to Pay You to Not Work In the Office'
Many major banks are enforcing new policies and mandates for in-office workers in the U.S.
By Emily Rella •
As the omicron variant continues to rage throughout the country and beyond, many employers are enacting stricter policies around vaccination and testing for unvaccinated employees.
Though at first hesitant to enforce such policies, many big banks are stepping up to make their stances known.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has advocated for work-from-home policies since the onset of the pandemic, and this week he took an even bolder stance.
"We believe that going to work is a good thing, that people deal with each other for innovation and creativity and just humanity is a good thing … We're not trying to be consistent, because as you pointed out, there are different laws and different requirements and cities and states and schools, and so here we're adjusting locally," Dimon said in an interview on CNBC's The Exchange. "So in our main headquarters building, we have a vax mandate, but remember, 97% of the people are vaxxed. So to go to the office, you have to be vaxxed, and if you aren't going to get vaxxed, you won't be able to work in that office. We're not going to pay you to not work in the office."
Dimon also pointed out that as certain states and locations of offices move towards higher vaccination rates and new vaccination mandates, vax rules could vary based on location, stressing "flexibility" when working towards coming up with a policy.
"We're not looking for nirvana here," he stressed. "You're not going to find it."
Dimon's messaging comes just before Citibank begins enforcing a vaccination mandate that it announced last October.
Per a company memo, Citi will place all unvaccinated employees on unpaid leave on January 14 before terminating their employment at the end of the month.
"You are welcome to apply for other roles at Citi in the future as long as you are compliant with Citi's vaccination policy," the bank said in a memo to employees at the time. "If you are not vaccinated, we urge you to get vaccinated as soon as possible."
Last month, Goldman Sachs told employees that it will require all employees who choose to work in-office in the U.S. to show proof of a Covid booster shot effective February 1.
The bank also said it planned to increase Covid testing for in-office employees in the U.S. to twice a week, which began this Monday.
