Citigroup is set to begin enforcing its “no jab, no job” policy next week, making it the first Wall Street bank to implement a vaccine mandate.
The New York-headquartered bank said in October that it would require all US employees to be vaccinated against Covid as a condition of their employment in line with a Biden administration policy requiring workers supporting government contracts to be fully vaccinated.
The Biden policy has been widely challenged in the courts, and is currently before the US supreme court following requests by Republican state officials and business groups to block it.
Citigroup also said it would examine requests for exemptions on religious or medical grounds, or any other accommodation by state or local law, on a case-by-case basis.
More than 90% of Citigroup staff have so far complied with the mandate and that figure is rising rapidly, Bloomberg reported, citing a Citigroup spokeswoman. Citigroup, the news agency said, will place workers who do not comply on unpaid leave, with their last day of employment at the end of the month.
The enforcement of “no jab, no job” on 14 January comes as Covid infections have surged in New York to five times last winter’s numbers – 59% thought to be of the highly transmissable Omicron variant.
The decision to enforce the mandate comes as Wall Street banks have struggled to get employees back to their office desks after close to two years of remote working.
Last month, JPMorgan, the largest US bank, told unvaccinated staff based in Manhattan to work remotely “until alternative solutions are considered” and said it was increasing restrictions on unvaccinated workers.
In a memo sent to staff, first reported by Reuters, JPMorgan also urged bankers to get Covid vaccines and to receive booster shots, while relaxing mask policy to require they are worn requiring in lobby areas, elevators and in cafes when not eating.
The memo, issued during a relative lull between the Delta variant and Omicron surge, said “it seems unfair” for vaccinated workers to wear face coverings indoors, adding that doing so would slow down its efforts for a return to normalcy.
Citigroup’s move comes as New York’s leadership announced a policy designed to hasten workers’ return to their desks in office buildings that are estimated to be just 30% full.
On Thursday, New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, standing beside the state governor, Kathy Hochul, proposed easing workers back into businesses with a three-day working week and then expanding to five days in New York City.
“I say let’s start out with a three-day week, to let people see how safe it is to come back to work, then we cycle back into a five-day week,” he said. “We can do this within a three-week period and be up and operating in our city.”