• Employers weigh whether vaccine mandates are good business strategy, Business,
Businesses deciding whether employee vaccine mandates make good business strategy
When Barrel and Flow Fest, a beer festival that celebrates Black art and artists, announced it would require proof of vaccination against the COVID-19 virus or a negative test result, co-founder Day Bracey suspects the festival lost some customers.
He knows the organizers lost some vendors — five or six dropped out in the first few days after the announcement.
But he isn’t worried about the people who the festival may have turned away.
“It seems for the people that we’re losing, we’re gaining so many more people who may have been on the fence about attending by guaranteeing their safety and signaling to them that this isn’t just a money grab during the pandemic,” Mr. Bracey said.
“This is a festival that is meant to support and uplift the community, and we can’t do that unless we have their best safety in mind.”
Barrel and Flow is among a growing list of events and venues in Pittsburgh that have made vaccinations part of their business rules. The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Club Cafe on the South Side, and Row House Cinema and Thunderbird Cafe and Music Hall in Lawrenceville are all planning to require proof of vaccination or a negative test result. In October, Stage AE in North Shore will only accept proof of vaccination. Heinz Field is requiring masks, while PPG Paints Arena is recommending those attending events there wear a face covering.
As the delta variant continues to spread, businesses and employers have found themselves once again trying to balance concerns over workers’ and customers’ safety with those about individuals’ privacy and autonomy — all while keeping an eye on the bottom line.
That was true in 2020 when COVID-19 arrived. Now in 2021, with a vaccine involved, employers are asking themselves who they can afford to lose — the workers and customers they will alienate