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Reuters reported that on August 25, Delta Air Lines said its employees would be mandated to pay $200 extra every month for their company-sponsored healthcare plan if they refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
This bold move has been implemented in various corporate America companies, including Delta’s competitor United Airlines.
These companies have mandated the vaccines for their employees to be protected from the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, which has reportedly significantly impacted parts of the country with lower vaccination levels.
President Joe Biden has also reportedly encouraged private businesses to require their employees to be vaccinated.
In a staff memo, Delta Air Chief Executive Ed Bastian mentioned that the monthly surcharge would take effect starting November 1.
He said that the surcharge is being implemented to counter the airline’s financial risk from an employee’s decision not to vaccinate.
Wade Symons, partner and regulatory resources group leader at Mercer global consulting firm, said, “We anticipate more companies will announce vaccine mandates and surcharges in the coming weeks.”
A Delta Air spokesperson calculated that the average hospital stay for COVID-19 had cost the company $40,000 per person.
The surcharge will be mandated for the entire workforce, and they will be required to show documentation or proof of vaccination to be excluded from the fee.
A spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association at Delta, Chris Riggins, said the workers union would not interfere with the proposed surcharge since it doesn’t affect the healthcare plan with the airline for its employees.
However, most pilots are not covered by the union-negotiated plan and will see a spike in their healthcare costs if they choose not to be vaccinated.
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Bastian noted that 75 percent of Delta Air’s employees had been vaccinated.
Despite this, all the employees who have gotten sick and been hospitalized with COVID-19 recently were not fully vaccinated.
He also said that effective immediately, unvaccinated employees will be required to wear masks in all indoor settings.
U.S. unvaccinated employees must take a COVID-19 test every week, and mandatory testing will start on September 12.
COVID-19 positive employees must stay quarantined and on leave from work as the company will offer pay protection starting September 30 to fully vaccinated employees who experience a breakthrough infection.