Google will sack staff who don’t get vaccinated

Google is clamping down hard on any anti-vac sentiment among its US staff ahead of efforts to return to the office, and will sack any staff who don’t follow its vaccination rules.

That’s the news that has emerged from a company internal memo seen by CNBC.

Google employees were already required by the company’s leadership to declare their vaccination status by December 3, and to provide either corroborating documentation or proof of exemption on medical or religious grounds.

The current US administration has ordered large US companies to ensure their staff are either fully vaccinated or regularly tested by January 18, though a federal court has halted that process for now.

Even so, Google is stipulating that any of its employees who haven’t met the above criteria by the suggested January 18 date are to be placed on “paid administrative leave” for 30 days. After this point they will be put on a further six months of “unpaid personal leave,” followed by the termination of their contract.

As the report points out, Google will require its employees to come into the office for three days a week at some point in 2022. This will obviously place added onus on staff to get their vaccination status in order, especially with the recent spread of the Omicron variant.

While these latest measures pertain to Google’s US staff, company CEO Sundar Pichai has previously outlined the company’s intention to apply such strict measures to its global workforce.

Google brought digital covid vaccination cards to Android earlier in the year, while last year it started adding features to Google Maps to help travellers and commuters adapt to life in a post-Covid world. Its most extensive Covid-19 measures, however, appear to be reserved for its own staff.