Ford Motor, one of the largest automakers in the nation, is imposing a vaccine mandate on its salaried workers. U.S. employees have get vaccinated by December 8, as per a report by CNBC. Unvaccinated workers could face unpaid leave.
Company spokesperson Monique Brentley said Ford was categorized as a federal contractor for some parts of its business. They have been given broad guidelines to enforce the mandate as federal contractors. On Monday, the White House released new guidance on the vaccine mandate.
In another statement sent by email Brentley told CNBC that the health and safety of their workforce remained their top priority and that the automaker had been encouraged by the support of their employees to comply with their protocols.
It also said that that that about 84 percent of salaried employees were already vaccinated and that Ford required most U.S. salaried employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 8. It mentioned that this date was in alignment with federal contractor guidelines.
Ford is the first automaker to enforce the vaccine mandate on salaried employees. General Motors and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) have not put forth a mandate on salaried employees although they asked them to get vaccinated.
Brentley also said that the Detroit-based automaker had not included factory workers, parts depot and Ford credit, which is its financial arm, in the current mandate. Instead, the automaker was analyzing federal and collective bargain requirements that would be required for these workers.
The United Auto Workers Union (UAW), which has more than 400,000 workers, of which about 57,000 workers are from Ford Motor, has played a proactive role in vaccination efforts and encourages its members to get vaccinated. However, the UAW does not support a vaccine mandate and believes that it is a personal choice of its workers.
The UAW told CNBC that it would review the mandate policy of the Biden administration. Earlier, it had participated with other major unions, on October 18 in a call with White House officials to discuss the vaccine mandate.
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