religious exemption vaccination letter indiana

#RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION VACCINATION LETTER INDIANA HOW TO#

'So I can clearly see many employers now saying, 'you know, I can't grant this exemption because it will cost too much if we have to be quarantining, if it causes us to have to close down or it causes people to have to wear PPE,'' Oliveri said. Undue hardship is typically measured in terms of cost, so if a company can prove an exemption significantly affects their bottom line, it can get thrown out.Īnother reason? The EEOC says religious accommodations can be refused if they get in the way of workplace safety. 'And it must not create undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business.

'First of all, the accommodation must be reasonable,' she said. Rigel Oliveri, law professor at the University of Missouri, said there are still plenty of other reasons employers could refuse religious exemptions for vaccines. But that can be hard to prove and risky: if not handled the right way, the EEOC could impose stiff penalties. But it can ask workers some questions.Īfterward, if they think an employee’s religious belief isn’t sincere, it could refuse accommodation. He estimates he’s helped thousands of people craft letters requesting religious vaccine exemptions, supported by scripture from the Bible.īut how’s an employer supposed to handle those requests, even if it suspects a worker's religious belief isn't sincere? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says, when it comes to vaccines and religion, a company’s default policy should be to grant them. So Beckwith helps them frame those beliefs as faith. 'These people are great people, they just tend to say, Hey, I just have a little bit of hesitancy here and I don't think it's right that I'm being forced to take this.” But they do deeply believe the vaccine isn’t right for them. ''And then I heard about you.''īeckwith said many of them can’t necessarily articulate their resistance to vaccination in terms of faith. 'I'll spend an hour on the phone, every other day it seems like, with people who are just bawling, they're crying, they're just saying, 'I don't know what to do.

Earlier this year, he started getting messages from people looking for a way out of the COVID-19 vaccine when their work started voluntarily requiring it. Micah Beckwith is a pastor in Noblesville and outspoken in conservative political circles.

#RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION VACCINATION LETTER INDIANA HOW TO#

And for some of their employees, religious exemptions look like the easiest way to avoid the mandate – even if it's not necessarily a tenet of their religion.Ī complicated mix of federal rules and newly proposed state laws leave many companies wondering how to keep workers safe while honoring religious rights. Companies across Indiana have voluntarily required worker vaccinations for months.

Religious exemption vaccination letter indiana