Although the Bank of America says that vaccinations remain voluntary, vaccinated employees who submit proof of their vaccination against COVID 19 by the end of the year will preserve 100% of an annual $500 wellness credit per person.
According to the Bank’s memo, 100,000 of them (or roughly 59% of the more than 170,000 on the roster) had already submitted proof of vaccination status. The wellness credit policies were “part of our ongoing focus on helping teammates and their loved ones prioritize their health and safety.”
Unvaccinated employees may still get $250 of the wellness credit if they, as required in prior years, complete a health screening and questionnaire, according to the memo, a spokesman confirmed.
“What I would really stress here is that this is a voluntary exercise. It is a voluntary exercise with a credit toward your medical premiums. It is not a medical surcharge. We’re not penalizing anyone. It’s up to you to take the credit or not to take the credit.” The spokesperson said.
Other firms are following suit. JP Morgan Chase & Co. recently said that “unvaccinated and undisclosed” employees “will share some of this expense in testing and higher medical plan costs through higher payroll contributions for medical insurance,” according to a spokesperson for the bank which has more than 240,000 employees.
Wells Fargo is “reviewing the new requirements” set by the Biden administration and “determining how they apply,” a spokesperson said in response to an inquiry about its plans to modify the bank’s roughly 260,000 employees’ insurance costs to spur vaccines.
Recommended Read: COVID-19: Top Three Side Effects of the J&J Vaccine?
Wells Fargo Advisors is not offering financial incentives for its employees to get vaccinated but all of them are eligible for up to four additional hours of paid time off for each dose, according to the spokesperson.
“This means employees will pay more in 2022 if they are enrolled in the U.S. medical plan and choose not to get vaccinated or disclose their status,” said a spokesperson for JP Morgan.
Recently, President Joe Biden has pushed strongly for faster vaccination efforts, prompting several companies and firms all around the country to enact vaccination mandates.
On Sept. 9, he announced a new vaccine mandate which requires employers at companies that staff more than 100 people to ensure that their employees are either fully vaccinated or getting tested for COVID-19 on a weekly basis, which also affects private businesses.
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