Citigroup has one of the harshest vaccine mandates on Wall Street and is prepared to fire employees at the end of the month who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by a Jan. 14 deadline.
The policy was announced last year, but the cutoff date looms for employees as other big banks struggle to bring employees back with many choosing to go remote as the rise in Omicron cases makes being in the office difficult. Bloomberg reported the news on Friday, citing a company memo to employees.
Citigroup employees who do not follow the vaccine mandate by Jan. 14 will be placed on administrative leave and then fired by the end of the month if they continue to refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In line with the Mayo Clinic’s policy, employees can reapply for their jobs if they follow the vaccine mandate.
About 90% of the bank’s approximately 70,000 employees have been vaccinated. The bank cites the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with over 100 employees, which is under review in the Supreme Court. Employees who have applied for and were granted exceptions may remain at the bank.
Citigroup was among the large banks to see earnings lifted by funds that had been set aside in case of bad loans Photo: AFP / Kena Betancur
Pushback against vaccine mandates has come from businesses, states and federal employees who are feeling the effects of being unvaccinated as COVID-19 cases rise with hospitalization rates. A significant percentage of those contracting the virus and being hospitalized are unvaccinated, but that has not stopped people from pushing against vaccine mandates.
To get employees back to work amid a worker shortage because of rising COVID-19 cases — a substantial percentage of which come from the Omicron variant — and “The Great Resignation,” the CDC has reduced the number of days people should quarantine after contracting COVID-19 from 10 to five for asymptomatic cases.
