600 city employees on leave after vax requirement kicks in
More than 600 city employees remain on unpaid leave under the coronavirus vaccine mandate — for which enforcement kicks in on Tuesday for a whole new group of workers including police and fire, according to City Hall.
Acting Mayor Kim Janey’s office said 624 people remained on unpaid leave as of Friday evening, barely changed from the mark last Wednesday, just a day after the mandate went into effect.
The city began enforcing the vax-or-test mandate for the “Phase 1” group of its workers a week and a half ago, after the long weekend.
After the city sent notice to all of the out-of-compliance employees the previous Wednesday, 1,400 facing punishment quickly dropped to 1,200 and then 812 who actually ended up getting placed on leave the day the enforcement began.
By the next day, that number was down to 637, and then 602 the next day — but the trend down hasn’t continued.
A city spokeswoman said the number of people fluctuates as some people get in compliance and others newly fall out of it.
Phase 1 appears to apply to the largest chunk of city employees, including the school district, which has the most staff of any department.
The city’s never been willing to say quite how many employees fall under the Phase 1 umbrella, but some perusing of payroll documents suggests that more than 10,000 of the total 18,000 Boston employees are counted.
Phase 1 employees — who also include those in Boston Centers for Youth & Families, Boston Public Libraries, Age Strong and Commission on Disabilities — were technically supposed to come into compliance with the mandate Sept. 20, though enforcement didn’t follow for several weeks. Phase 2, which includes police, fire and inspectional services, hit their mandate Oct. 4.
And now enforcement will begin this coming Tuesday, Janey’s office said, saying that it sent out notice on Thursday to Phase 2 employees who are currently not compliant.
Janey’s office declined to say how many notices it sent out, adding that more information will be available on Tuesday when the enforcement begins.
Janey in August announced a vaccine mandate for all of the city’s employees and contractors. It’s not an absolute mandate, as people who don’t wish to get a vaccine can instead opt to submit weekly evidence of a negative coronavirus test, and medical and religious exemptions are possible.
Asked last week if people out of compliance could end up getting fired, Janey said, “If they continue to not comply — yes, at some point, then, it will lead to termination.”
Janey’s office said in a statement on Friday, “We continue to urge all City employees to get into compliance and support their completion of the verification process, as our goal is to take the best steps to protect ourselves and those we serve.”