And how they compare to its peers
Even as we approach our third year of an ongoing pandemic, the overall situation out there has been pretty bleak. The Omicron variant has swept through much of the world, with record-setting case counts and hospitalizations. Although the Supreme Court struck down the Biden administration’s planned vaccine mandate for major US employers last week, private organizations — including one-third of Fortune 100 companies — have implemented their own. Google is among those included in this list, though it’s unclear whether it’ll catch up to the competition in this space.
Last year, an internal memo circulated through the company gave employees until December 3rd to provide proof of vaccination or valid medical or religious exemptions. A hard deadline of January 13th gave employees time to start the vaccination process, after which employees who failed to do either would be placed on a 30-day paid suspension. Following this period, any workers still violating Google’s mandate will have to deal with up to six months of unpaid leave before finally facing termination.
That memo was drafted and designed in response to Biden’s planned OSHA regulations, but in the two months since, Omicron has become the dominant strain both in the US and worldwide. Plenty has changed, including the prevalence and increased necessity for booster shots to assist in avoiding infection. It’s something one of Google’s main competitors, Apple, has taken to heart, as the company behind the iPhone now requires proof of booster shots if employees want to enter the building. Otherwise, unvaccinated workers need to test negative at the door.
So what exactly is Google changing in the face of Omicron? As reported by The Verge, its office workers now need to have a negative molecular test — usually done with PCR — to enter its buildings. This policy was announced in an internal memo in mid-January as a direct response to new variants like Omicron, though Google maintains that this particular rule is only temporary. Meanwhile, employees have been asked to wear surgical masks indoors.
To assist with testing, the company offers free at-home molecular kits to full-time workers from Cue Health that return results in minutes. In contrast, Bloomberg reports that contract workers get access to mail-in PCR tests from BioIQ that, unfortunately, take longer to process. Google spokesperson Lora Lee Erickson told The Verge that some contract employees working at data centers can rapid test on-site, negating the long wait for testing. Mail-in results can be outdated by the time they’re returned to users, so any method for speeding up the process is obviously preferred.
Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on whether Google plans to follow in Apple’s footsteps and require proof of booster shots. It’s possible that, without an OSHA regulation set for the future, the mandate sticks to just two doses without the requirement of a third. That said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a new announcement within the next few weeks. In addition to Apple, Facebook also requires a booster for anyone coming into the office.
We’ve reached out to Google regarding its future plans for a booster requirement and will update when we hear back.
Read Next
About The Author
