Open eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine should be a shot in the arm for employers and employees eager to return to the workplace. But concerns about vaccine side effects, coupled with a certain amount of anti-vax and anti-mask sentiment, have caused many Texans to question the intersection of personal freedoms and employer rights.

But as an employer, you can and should require your employees to receive the vaccine once it’s determined they are returning to your brick-and-mortar operations. Here’s why: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires employers to provide a safe workplace. In January, President Joseph Biden ordered OSHA to develop a plan outlining enforcement measures for COVID safety in the workplace. Among its first mandates were guidelines that require employees to wear masks in the workplace and to take other precautions. If employers do not follow these guidelines, they could face fines and penalties from OSHA.

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