Tricky situations: How brokers navigate discussions about mask and vaccine mandates

We asked our readers, how have you been approaching conversations around mask and vaccine mandates with your employees and clients?

(Editor’s note: These responses were collected before the Biden administration announced mandatory vaccinations for employers with 100 or more employees.)

Do the right thing

One of the biggest challenges employers are facing is that employees and clients are being more vocal about their opinions on mask-wearing—or not—and vaccinations—or not. What we recommend is that they consult with their HR partners, labor attorney, and local health department officials to figure out how best to properly communicate a reply. What we have consistently heard from our clients is the best advice that they have received is to comment that it’s not our role as an employer to be creating rules or regulations, but we have an obligation to our clients and our employees to follow the best advice and recommendations of our health officials to keep everyone as safe as possible while realizing that people’s opinions and feelings matter.

Tom Avery, Founder & CEO, SignalSync

On repeat

“You need to speak with a local employment law attorney to know what you are allowed and not allowed to do. If you need any suggestions on who to talk to, just let us know.” That’s been our broken record!

Susan L. Combs, CEO, Combs & Company

Just the facts

Our approach has largely been to help to present vaccination information in a holistic manner. While many conversations underscore the potential benefit to an employer to have a vaccinated workforce, we also highlight the potential issues associated with it as well. We’ve found that by taking a neutral stance, we’ve been able to help lead clients down the path of making informed decisions.

Perhaps more important is the conversation around returning to the office, and the implications on this front. All conversations go hand-in-hand. The concerns of both employers and employees alike when it comes to a return to work strategy and vaccination campaign should be fully evaluated as far as risks and liabilities while realizing that no singular answer will fully appease the masses.

Derek Winn, benefits consultant, BBG

Tread carefully

My answer is that I consult with Abbracci Group, one of our clients, who happen to be HR consulting mavericks!

But… I’ve learned that approaching this topic within a professional environment, to clients whose best interests I’m tasked and compensated to represent, means that I need to be able to avoid presenting my opinion on the matter and instead, present the need and the potential outcomes of each available option ahead. For example, “If you do this, then that…”

I have taken the time to better understand how and when it’s appropriate for employers to make accommodations and learned very quickly that similarly to making exceptions within a self-funded health plan, we need to ensure that our clients tread carefully so as not to set a precedent for an entire organization and/or violate a mandate that is largely out of their hands.

If I can focus instead on giving our clients a 360-degree view of what these requirements could mean for the wildly differing demographics in any given workforce, they can better manage the messaging and the expectations with their employees. That’s presented the best opportunity to build a deeper comradery and collaboration with my clients.

Emma Fox, chief operating officer, E Powered Benefits

Arm with information

We proactively keep clients informed on the latest studies and guidance by leveraging the expertise of our in-house medical director, risk services team, and national Compliance Center of Excellence. We know information is the best tool to help employers feel confident they are making informed decisions that impact the safety of their employees and their organization. We also have access to benchmarking data to give employers a sense of what’s trending in their region or industry. Ultimately, every employer is different. Understanding their unique challenges and delivering resources to help them make confident decisions has been the most effective approach.

Steve Cagle, Senior Advisor, Marsh McLennan Agency

Follow the rules or fix them

I have spent most of the last few weeks thinking about this exact issue. Particularly, being located in Washington state where mask mandates are in force again.

Here is my position: Let’s be clear, I hate COVID-19, I am not a fan of masks or vaccines. With that being said, I am both vaccinated and wear a mask when required.

I am an employer and have liability around both the decisions I make and the decisions of anyone employed by me or on my premises. I will not require my employees to get vaccinated unless it is mandated by the state. I will require them to wear a mask if they choose not to be vaccinated. Again this decision is a liability decision, not a personal preference.

This is the message I share with my employers. Follow the rules, and within those guidelines, do what you feel is right. If you don’t like the rules, then work to change them.

I have chosen not to attend events where I know there are going to be people choosing not to abide by the state regulations. Not because I agree with them, but because I don’t want to put that employer or place of business at risk for my decisions.

Nancy Giacolone, president/owner, Pacific Crest Insurance Inc.

Creative thinking

First, and most importantly, it is vital to review the ever-changing state and local requirements and industry guidance regarding mask and vaccine mandates to ensure that employers are complying with their obligations or alternatively, not overstepping boundaries set by state and local governments and/or administrative agencies. From there, my clients and I analyze their business and workforce to determine what strategies are necessary to keep their employees safe and what masking and/or vaccine policies are practical given their employees’ job duties, day-to-day business and demographics. Generally speaking, there is no universal mask/vaccine mandate that makes sense for all organizations.

The biggest challenge has been working with clients who operate in a state/locality with mandatory mask and/or vaccine requirements whose workforce would rather quit than comply or ask for applicable accommodations. Many of our employer clients operate in critical industries that are already experiencing a shortage of employees, so figuring out how to retain employees and comply with state, local, and industry requirements is imperative.

The mask and vaccine mandates have presented a great opportunity for our employer clients to think strategically about the employment policies they put in place. While many clients develop handbooks when their company is first formed, the mask and vaccine mandates have served as a catalyst to remind employers that employment laws are constantly changing and they may need to revisit policies that are no longer up to date or no longer serve their workforce.

Lilian Davis, shareholder, Polsinelli

Follow the leaders

When approaching a conversation centered around COVID I do my best to be socially & emotionally aware. Whether it’s a client, friend or stranger, we have to be cognizant of the fact that we all have our own unique combination of two things: personal experience and information absorbed. I do my best to steer the conversation away from politics and to the mandates (federal and state) and share what other high-performing companies are doing.

Many of our clients are flirting with the idea of creating a wellness incentive for those who choose to get the vaccine (similar to Delta Air Lines). A few have chosen to pull the trigger, here are the two most common perspectives we are seeing:

1. The cost savings standpoint of the health plan (according to Kaiser, unvaccinated hospitalizations are averaging $20k).

2. The leadership team believes it’s the best thing an employee can do to protect themselves so they want to nudge them to at least listen to an educational session (often the “reasonable alternative”) as to why the vaccine is effective.

Justin Futrell, benefits advisor, TrueNorth

Uncharted waters

In a word, I am approaching those conversations…carefully.

Discussions and decisions around vaccines and masks are polarizing. We can certainly debate if that should be the case, but as a consultant and benefit professional that is the current reality. Pretending it’s not polarizing does not identify optimal solutions for my clients which includes service providers, employers and employees. Therefore it’s important to consider compliance, culture and cost when making decisions around vaccines and masks.

Related to compliance, organizations must first think about what is allowed under various laws. This changes daily in some areas of the country that monitor COVID-19 statistics and update guidance related to masks and social distancing based on those findings. Once the legal guard rails are established there is often a considerable grey area where organizations must make policy decisions for their organization (i.e. corporate governance/culture) as well as determine what level of decision-making authority and choice will be retained at various sites and with employees. For example, if masks or vaccines are mandated how is tracking facilitated, monitoring performed, discipline implemented and will exemptions be made and under what circumstances.

This level of corporate governance, guided by corporate culture, is imperative and just as critical as legal compliance because organizations will be impacted by these policies in all areas of HR including but not limited to risk management, health and productivity, talent and acquisition and employee benefits. When thinking about vaccine and mask mandates the direct costs are likely low but indirect costs exist and must be considered as part of your decision-making process.

To date an estimated 20% of employers are expecting to mandate vaccinations in some form but almost half of employers are considering a mandate. I expect these numbers will increase considerably in the coming year especially in healthcare and education and as employers finalize their strategies around a physical return to the office and/or return to corporate events and travel.

I think the biggest challenge for employers is that they must determine their own best practice; we are all in uncharted waters. Organizations cannot look to their peers or attend a conference and follow in someone else’s footsteps because policies are being created and revised every day. As an example, a year ago we didn’t even have a vaccine…now 20% of employers are considering mandating its use. For me, that’s the opportunity. I’m sure it’s daunting to develop policies from scratch related to COVID-19 but talk to your internal experts, identify a consultant to support the work and partner with your legal time to pinpoint what is best for your firm and your constituents related to mandates.

Teri Weber, senior vice president, Spring Consulting Group

Solutions-oriented approach

The challenge was to inform our clients as best we could, while staying within our scope of work as Employee Benefits Consultants and Insurance agents. After providing them with as many summarized ideas and resources, we focused on what we could do.

We brought on-site COVID testing to those employers in need and then later on-site COVID vaccinations. While most of the employers mandated masking, at least for a while, even those that expressed an early opinion to mandate vaccines seemed to adjust away from that stance.

Offering vaccinations on-Site to the employees and their families seemed to be a middle ground for most. Bringing solutions and being the first point of contact for questions strengthened relationships with our clients. Furthermore, as the word got out, we were able to secure media coverage on several news channels. This allowed us to bring the same solutions to prospective clients and start new relationships and conversations with employers.

Donovan J. Ryckis, employee benefits consultant, CEO at J Donovan Financial