The Kroger grocery chain, which owns Ruler Foods, currently gives $100 to employees who get vaccinated and offers two weeks paid emergency leave to workers sickened by the coronavirus. But the company announced last week that those carrots will soon be joined by some sticks: Starting Jan. 1, the paid emergency leave will no longer be offered to unvaccinated workers who become infected. And salaried employees who refuse vaccination will see a $50 monthly surcharge added to their company health care plan.
These are reasonable business responses to unreasonable vaccine hesitation that is helping prolong the pandemic. With the Biden administration’s attempts at vaccine mandates encountering pushback in much of society and in court, these kinds of private-enterprise initiatives could prove crucial to managing the crisis.
President Joe Biden’s call for federal vaccination or testing requirements for health care workers, federal contractors and employees of large companies isn’t some radical new idea. Federal health and safety requirements tailored to specific kinds of workplaces have been around for generations, as have vaccine mandates in schools. Given that the virus has killed more Americans in the past two years than have died in combat in the nation’s entire history — and given that coronavirus vaccines have been proven safe and effective — requiring vaccination for those who want to work with medical patients or in large, crowded workplaces is a no-brainer.
But what makes sense and what’s realistic in the current political climate are two different things. The politicization of this medical issue and the snail’s pace of the legal system means Biden’s mandates likely won’t be fully enforceable anytime soon. And conservatives likely will continue to demonize the very notion of such federally required health measures as intrusions on personal choice.
That argument evaporates, though, when businesses themselves decide to impose requirements on their employees to protect both their workforce and their customers. Efforts by so-called conservatives like Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida or Greg Abbott of Texas to prohibit businesses from requiring employee vaccination only highlight how hypocritical and craven some politicians have become. There’s nothing conservative about handcuffing private businesses’ pandemic policy choices like that.
Kroger’s employee incentives for vaccination — and, soon, disincentives for the unvaccinated — constitute a more nuanced approach than federal mandates, and one that’s harder to argue with. Even among those who believe that employees have some fundamental right to put their coworkers at risk by refusing vaccination, how many are likely to claim they should also get extra paid leave, at their employers’ expense, to recover from this preventable illness if and when they get it?
As for the $50 surcharge, the fact is the unvaccinated are more likely to get sick, so it’s reasonable for health care plans to charge them more. Conservatives, rejoice. Business decisions like this are the very epitome of responsible free enterprise.
