200 workers disciplined for failing to comply

Hospital workers, correctional deputies, probation staffers affected

About 200 Santa Clara County employees are being disciplined for not following a stringent health order that mandates workers in high-risk settings like jails and hospitals receive a booster shot or a first round of vaccination by Feb. 1 — or risk their jobs.

The affected departments include 171 health care workers, 22 correctional deputies and 16 probation staff members, according to figures provided by the county, which represents slightly less than 2% of a workforce of around 12,000 who were under the health order. The county fire department’s administration, which had a couple dozen employees who were trying to avoid the booster shot, said that it expects a total of seven firefighters to be removed from their positions out of a total workforce of 220 people.

Administrators in each department now will decide what disciplinary steps to take with their employees. But it wasn’t immediately clear as of Wednesday which options — whether its reassignment, leave or termination — are being considered. But at least 80 county nurses are currently on unpaid administrative leave because of the mandate, nursing union President Allan Kamara said Wednesday. And the fire department currently has only four spots that its firefighters can be moved to, according to emails sent out to its union members.

In a statement, the county fire department — which is governed by the Board of Supervisors, not County Executive Jeff Smith — said it did not expect that the seven firefighters being taken off the line will disrupt staffing.

“Further, the department does not anticipate experiencing a critical staffing shortage due to the deadline, even when accounting for staffing fluctuations due to protected and voluntary leaves,” the statement reads. The union president who represents the firefighters, Chris Ingram, did not respond to a request for comment.

Smith called the number of health care workers, correctional deputies and probation staff affected “pretty small” and expected that some of the affected workers will end up following the health order. He added that a “significant” number of holdouts — around 10% and 20%, he said — got a shot right up until the deadline.

“As was expected, a lot of people went and got vaccinated,” he said. “And I expect more. I don’t think people (thought) it was serious until we got to the deadline. That’s sort of the typical approach.”

Despite the county’s reassurances, the booster mandate has caused concerns from both hospitals and union leaders who say the order will further the staffing crisis already underway because of the omicron surge.

The county’s order is the only one in the state that doesn’t allow for workers with exemptions to stay at their current jobs.

That specific part of the mandate troubled hospitals, who complained to the county shortly after the order was announced Dec. 28 that it would would put unnecessary strain on its workforce. In response, the county set up a workaround that allowed high-risk employers to allow for those with exemptions to stay in place.

Last week, six unions that represent thousands of workers across the county sent a joint letter to county leaders asking that its employees who have an exemption be allowed to stay put. But the county itself so far has refused to accede to that request.

“I’m pretty confident that at this point we’ll be OK from a staffing perspective with all the areas that are affected,” Smith said. “I’m not happy that people are not vaccinated, but I think we’re OK.

“And like I said, if we aren’t, we’ll keep an eye on it and address it.”

At least one fire department in the county, Gilroy, was approved by the county to allow workers with exemptions to stay at their jobs. Fire Chief Jim Wyatt said Tuesday that he made the request to accommodate a single firefighter, who, in his eyes, had a legitimate reason to remain unvaccinated.

“We’re a very small city,” said Wyatt, who has been a designated infectious control officer at two different fire departments. “We’re a poor city. We need every able-bodied person. This is a very highly competent firefighter. Last thing we wanted was them applying elsewhere.”

He added, “I, myself and the rest of the department have been vaccinated, but I understand the position of someone who didn’t want to get it. It doesn’t mean I agreed with them; it just means I understood their position on it.”

When asked about his position on the county’s booster mandate, Wyatt said that other courses of action could have been considered.

“Truly, when it comes down to it, if people are willing to lose their job, it’s created an artificial crisis that may be able to mitigated in a different way.”