IBM To Require US Staff To Be Vaccinated

Tom Jowitt,
coronavirus Image credit: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

Want to continue working at IBM? Big Blue staff in the US told they must be vaccinated by 8 December or face unpaid suspension

IBM has become the latest big name tech firm to require its staff to be vaccinated, when they return to offices or campuses.

But IBM has gone one step further, when it reportedly said that all its employees in the United States must be vaccinated by 8 December or face unpaid suspension, CNBC reported.

In July Google and Facebook became the first two tech giants to announce they will require their staff to be vaccinated, when they return to offices or campuses.

Staff Vaccinations

And in September, US President Joe Biden proposed that all civilian federal employees must be vaccinated.

The US President also proposed that any employers with more than 100 staff, to mandate their employees be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.

Now in order to comply with the President’s vaccine mandate for all government contractors, an IBM memo has told US employees that they must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by 8 December or face an unpaid suspension.

“As a federal contractor, it is a business imperative for IBM to comply with this mandate,” the company said in a memo sent to staff. “In light of this requirement, the policies of many of our clients and partners, and the easy access to vaccines around the country, we will now require all IBM US employees to be fully vaccinated by December 8, 2021, in order to work at IBM.”

No pay

However, unlike some other US employers, IBM’s policy on vaccinations does not fire those refuse to take it.

Instead, they will not be paid after 8 December until they complete their vaccinations.

And IBM staffers who are removed from payroll for not getting their vaccines will still be eligible for IBM’s 401K matching program, Amanda Carl, an IBM spokesperson told CNBC.

The 401K is a US retirement plan, and IBM matches 401K contributions up to 6 percent once a year on 15 December.

Another IBM spokesperson told CNBC in a statement that the company will consider religious and medical exemptions for employees who can’t get the vaccine.