Unvaccinated Employees Must Wear Mask Indoors, More Changes Made

Delta employees have received a memo from CEO Ed Bastian stating that unvaccinated employees would be required to wear masks indoors following new spikes in COVID-19 cases, effective immediately.

He noted that 75% of employees were vaccinated.

Other incentives to get the vaccine were revealed, with plans to roll out over the next two months.

Exact details are as follows:

• Starting Sept. 12, any U.S. employee who is not fully vaccinated will be required to take a COVID test each week while community case rates are high. Those with a positive result will need to isolate and remain out of the workplace.
• Beginning Nov. 1, unvaccinated employees enrolled in Delta’s account-based healthcare plan will be subject to a $200 monthly surcharge. The average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person. This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company. In recent weeks since the rise of the B.1.617.2 variant, all Delta employees who have been hospitalized with COVID were not fully vaccinated.
• Effective Sept. 30, in compliance with state and local laws, COVID pay protection will only be provided to fully vaccinated individuals who are experiencing a breakthrough infection.

Additionally, Delta has partnered with the state of Georgia to operate the state's largest mass vaccination site at the Delta Flight Museum. More than 150,000 doses were administered to employees, their family members and friends at Delta clinics.

FMI: www.delta.com