Current Arkansas law allows every private employer to require the workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19

ABC 7 News conducted a research whether a private business owner can require its workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and the answer is yes. Otherwise, the employer can fire any worker.

According to their research, the current Arkansas law allows business owner to decide over the vaccinate mandate in their business.

And it’s not only the Covid-19 vaccine, but also any other vaccine like the flu shot. Every business owner can lawfully terminate employees’ contracts if they don’t follow businesses’ requirements unless the employee doesn’t fall under any of the three exemptions.

“Private employers do have authority over their own operations to determine that a vaccine can be mandated, and if an employee chooses not to receive the vaccine, that’s their choice,” Little Rock Attorney Greg Northen said. “But it can lawfully result in their termination.”

If an employee states that they are not allowed to get the vaccine because of any of the three reasons, they will have to have a proof of that.

“If you have an underlying health condition that could result in disability protection or American Disabilities Act,,” he said, citing one of the exemptions. “If you have a sincerely-held religious belief that precludes you from receiving the vaccine. If you are a pregnant and/or nursing mother. All of those categories would receive some protection from termination even in a private business.”

However, the issue for businesses is that they are not allowed to ask for a proof. They are not even allowed to ask any worker over the vaccination status.

“Under the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] guidelines, if you ask, ‘Are you vaccinated,’ you have just made what is called a medical examination and there are rules that limit what an employer can do with medical examinations,” he said. “The rules prohibit employers from using any medical examination or inquiry questions into a worker’s health status in order to discriminate against them for underlying health conditions.”

The state employees, however, are fully protected and not a single state institution or agency can require them to get any vaccine.