UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In compliance with an executive order from President Joe Biden, all Penn State employees — including faculty, staff, technical service employees, Penn State Extension staff, student part-time employees, and graduate students supported on graduate assistantships — at University Park and eight Commonwealth Campuses are subject to the federal contractor COVID-19 vaccination requirement. This also has been extended to Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey and at University Park.
Employees covered under the federal contractor mandate must upload proof to the University that they have received their final vaccine dose — either their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna, or single dose of Johnson & Johnson — by Jan. 4 or be granted a disability/medical- or religious-related accommodation by the University. Accommodations will include a requirement to test weekly in the University testing protocol program. Employees who wait until Jan. 4 for their final dose will be in a weekly testing protocol for an additional two weeks until they are considered fully vaccinated.
At this time, employees at all other Penn State locations are subject to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on Vaccination and Testing, which applies to employers with 100 or more employees. Under the OSHA ETS, employees at these locations must receive their final vaccine dose by Jan. 4 or test weekly for COVID-19. The University is closely following the legal developments surrounding the OSHA ETS and, at this time, is continuing with its plans to comply with the ETS.
“I want to thank all members of our community who have already been vaccinated as well as those who are in the process of becoming fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” said Nick Jones, executive vice president and provost. “However, to comply with the federal contractor mandate, we need to have all employees on impacted campuses get their final dose of vaccine or receive an approved accommodation by Jan. 4. To encourage employee compliance, we have developed tiered methods that include education, conversations with supervisors and unit executives and, for continued noncompliance, eventual disciplinary actions.”
The University will rely on existing Penn State policies and Human Resources procedures, including potential disciplinary actions, that are already in place for individuals covered by the federal contractor mandate who do not receive an approved accommodation or receive their final vaccine dose by Jan 4. Because the OSHA ETS has an option for weekly COVID-19 testing in lieu of vaccination, employees at locations covered by the OSHA ETS will not be subject to potential sanctions for not getting vaccinated, provided they comply with testing requirements.
“To help bring employees into compliance, we have relied on existing policies to develop a phased enforcement process that includes multiple steps to encourage vaccination,” said Lorraine Goffe, vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer. “The specific compliance processes vary based on individuals’ classification with the University, but they all have steps over time to help employees comply with the federal mandate and they all ultimately involve disciplinary measures for continued noncompliance up to, and including, termination from employment.”
Below, the general compliance processes are described for faculty, staff, technical service employees, graduate students with assistantships, and students on wage payroll who are covered by the federal contractor vaccination mandate.
Faculty
Faculty who are not fully compliant with the mandate on Jan. 4 must meet with their unit executive or designee within 48 hours to discuss their intent to be fully compliant. Further administrative actions will be discussed individually during the meeting, and will include expectations for progress towards compliance, potential for unpaid administrative leave and other disciplinary steps up to, and potentially including, termination.
Staff
Staff are expected to be fully compliant with the final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 4 or have an approved accommodation. Staff who are in progress with receiving vaccine doses but have not received their final dose by Jan. 4 will be placed in the weekly testing protocol until they are fully vaccinated or have an approved accommodation.
In addition, staff will meet with their supervisor and/or designated Human Resources representative to discuss intent to comply, accommodation request status, potential for unpaid administrative leave status, and other disciplinary steps up to, and potentially including, termination. Staff will also be permitted to voluntarily resign, or if eligible, retire before facing involuntary termination of employment. Appropriate next steps and probable disciplinary actions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Technical Service Employees
Starting on Jan. 4, the University will initiate the enforcement process for tech service employees who have not submitted either proof of vaccination or a request for accommodation. The enforcement process will start with a brief, five-workday period of education, including providing noncompliant employees with information regarding the benefits of vaccination and ways to obtain the vaccine.
After the five-workday period, tech service employees will then have one calendar week to demonstrate progress toward becoming fully vaccinated or they will be placed on a two-week unpaid suspension. Continued noncompliance following the suspension will result in termination of employment. Employees will be permitted to voluntarily resign, or if eligible, retire before facing involuntary termination of employment.
Tech service employees who have requested a medical/disability or religious accommodation will be permitted to continue working after Jan. 4 while awaiting a response from the University to their request, but will be required to follow safety protocols, including following mask protocols and weekly COVID-19 testing. If their accommodation request is denied, employees will be subject to the enforcement process described above.
Graduate Students on Assistantships
Graduate students must have received their final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or have an approved religious or medical/disability accommodation to be eligible for assistantship support after Jan. 4.
Graduate students appointed to assistantships for the spring 2022 semester who are not fully compliant with the mandate as of Jan. 5 must meet with their unit executive or their designee for the unit in which their assistantship is funded by Jan. 6. Further administrative actions related to the assistantship will be discussed individually at that time and will include review of accommodation request status, potential for assistantship revocation and impact of assistantship revocation to ongoing student academic endeavors.
Students Part-Time Employees
Students working part time who demonstrate no steps toward compliance, such as partial vaccination or an in-progress accommodation request, by Jan. 4 will not be scheduled to work until further notice and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate next steps and/or disciplinary actions. Case-by case review will include assessment of student progress towards compliance, accommodation request status and student intent related to compliance.