Get All Access for $5/mo

One Major Airline Offers Extra Pay to Vaccinated Employees, Its Competitor Offers Unpaid Leave to Unvaccinated Workers Employees who show proof of vaccination by November 15 will get an extra 16 hours of pay.

By Emily Rella

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As the Delta variant of COVID-19 sweeps through the country, many companies are requiring employees to become vaccinated and abide by specific pandemic protocols.

This has been especially widespread in the airline industry, where many front-facing employees deal with a multitude of customers and travelers daily.

Southwest Airlines is the latest to jump on the vaccination train, but instead of making vaccines mandatory, the company is offering a pretty attractive incentive to encourage employees to get their shots.

Southwest employees who show proof of vaccination by November 15 will get an extra 16 hours of pay, while flight attendants and pilots for the airline will receive the equivalent pay of 13 segments, per a report by CNBC.

Related: Major U.S. Airline Becomes First to Require Employees to Be Vaccinated or Risk Termination

"If you have not been vaccinated and choose to do so, this timeline gives you enough time to receive both rounds of a two-series vaccine or the single-dose vaccine," a memo to the airline staff reportedly stated.

Southwest did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur's request for comment.

Southwest maintains the new protocols have nothing to do with President Biden's new vaccine mandates for federal employees. These incentives follow closely behind an announcement from United Airlines, which stated it would be putting employees on temporary unpaid leave if they were not vaccinated by the end of this month.

Related: American Airlines Will Cancel Hundreds of Flights Due to Staffing Shortages

"We are working hard to ensure the safety of our employees and customers while accommodating those employees who have sincerely held religious beliefs. Each submission for accommodation will be reviewed individually and will comply with any applicable collective bargaining agreement," the airline said at the time in the letter obtained by Entrepreneur. "We expect to inform you if your submission was approved or denied in the next two weeks."

Southwest reportedly lost around 4,300 employees from the end of 2019 to the end of 2020 due to the pandemic, accounting for around 7% of its total workforce. The airline stock, however, was up around 6.7% year-over-year as of Thursday morning.

Related: Major U.S. Airline to Put Unvaccinated Employees on Unpaid Leave Starting Next Month

Emily Rella

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Leadership

7 Telltale Signs of a Weak Leader

Whether a bully or a people pleaser who can't tell hard truths, poor leadership takes many forms.

Data & Recovery

Say Hello to the Secure Cloud Storage Alternative Entrepreneurs Need

Secure, scalable, and cost-effective: Internxt is the smarter choice for cloud storage.

Franchise

How Franchising Can Alleviate Entrepreneurial Imposter Syndrome

The franchise model can alleviate entrepreneurial imposter syndrome and provide an alternative path towards professional independence.

Side Hustle

At Age 15, He Used Facebook Marketplace to Start a Side Hustle — Then It Became Something Much Bigger: 'Raised Over $1.6 Million'

Dylan Zajac, now a 21-year-old senior at Babson College, wanted to bridge the digital divide.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.