Partner Dan Kaplan was quoted in a WisBusiness article, “Labor attorney says vaccine incentive rhetoric is positive,” about Wisconsin employers who are offering employees incentives to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
Kaplan, co-chair of the firm’s labor and employment practice, said employers can offer incentives for workers to get vaccinated, though he noted that if they give employees cash or bonuses, the amounts have to be calculated into the employees’ regular rate of pay. He also said no law currently prohibits an employer from requiring employees to get vaccinated, though legislation that would prohibit a COVID-19 shot as a condition of employment is pending.
“The approach that most all of the clients with whom I work, and a lot of the employers out there, they have gone to an education kind of program, with the desire being or the implication being the more we can educate the workforce about benefits associated with the vaccine, the more likely our workforce will voluntarily participate,” he said. “I’ve been seeing pretty good participation rates among employers and among employees.”