Delta Air Lines will require unvaccinated employees to pay $200 a month more for health insurance. It’s just one of four requirements. Ready to play the DELTAOPOLY UNVACCINATED EDITION?
First off, I want to applaud Delta Air Lines. They have decided not to mandate vaccines for employees. United Airlines opted for a mandate. United employees will face termination if they don’t vaccinate by the end of September. Ouch.
As I wrote last week, I don’t think mandates are ideal. People should have the ability to make a personal choice whether they’ll get the vaccine or pursue a vaccine exemption. But, inaction is also a choice that has consequences.
Ready to roll the dice at Delta?
Unvaccinated Delta employees will be subject to four requirements this Fall:
1. COVER UP – going forward they will be required to wear masks indoors.
2. SWAB UP – they will be required to take weekly coronavirus tests starting the week of September 12th.
3. LOSE OUT – if they test positive for the virus and/or miss work while having to quarantine, they will lose pay protection starting on September 30th.
4. PAY UP – unvaccinated employees will have to pay an additional $200 per month to remain on the company’s health care plan starting on November 1st.
CEO Ed Bastian laid out the requirements in a letter to employees:
“We’ve always known that vaccinations are the most effective tool to keep our people safe and healthy in the face of this global health crisis…That’s why we’re taking additional, robust actions to increase our vaccination rate.”
Robust may be the understatement of the year. Bastian is targeting the 25% of employees who remain unvaccinated and the financial risk they pose.
It turns out every Delta Air Lines employee who has been hospitalized with COVID over the summer has been unvaccinated. The average hospital stay costs the company $50,000. Like many large companies they self fund their employee healthcare plan. Raising premiums $200 per month offsets this risk.
Question – Do you believe this is fair?
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