T-Mobile To Fire Unvaccinated Employees In April After Vaccine Mandate Struck Down By Supreme Court

T-Mobile, in an email obtained by the blog The TMO Report, revealed the company will fire employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by April 2.

On Jan. 13, the Supreme Court’s decision against vaccine mandates, or mandatory testing and masking, for businesses with over 100 employees caused some businesses to abandon their own mandates. However, T-Mobile and many more will continue to impose their vaccine mandates on employees, citing the surge in the Omicron variant and advice from medical experts.

The email reads “we’re asking everyone at T-Mobile to be fully vaccinated by April 2, which includes uploading proof of vaccination . . . this policy allies to all job classifications who need regular or occasional access to our vaccinated badge-controlled office spaces — flexible resident, hybrid and mostly remote. That means it includes everyone at T-Mobile, [except for] a few job titles.”

T-Mobile supplied the list of exceptions which includes retail mobile expert and field technician roles. The company added that those who have not received their first dose and uploaded proof by Feb. 21 will be placed on unpaid leave. However, T-Mobile is allowing for religious and medical exemptions.

Still, T-Mobile is wary of the impact of this policy on their customer experience, which is why “Customer Experience Centers (CECs) employees are being asked to provide first-dose vaccination proof by [Feb. 21], but will not be placed on unpaid leave.”

Instead of firing customer service employees, they will instead — if they do not report their vaccination status or apply for an exception — be given the option to work for one of T-Mobile’s “service partners as an alternative.”

Right now, the T-Mobile offices are badge-controlled, meaning that employees can be locked out if they do not follow protocols. In a statement to Reuters, T-Mobile confirmed the news and added that “badge-controlled offices continue to be accessible only to those who are vaccinated against COVID-19."