Would You Tell On Your Coworker For Lying About A COVID Vaccination? A New Study Reveals Answers

With President Joe Biden’s employee COVID vaccination mandate set to go into effect on Jan. 4, there are already signs of contention among coworkers, according to a new study.

The study from software company Qualtrics suggests that as many as 55% of employees would consider reporting their coworkers if they violated the vaccine mandate.

The vaccine mandate requires workers to either have their COVID vaccination or to have weekly COVID testing at companies with at least 100 employees or face hefty fines.

As many as 23% of respondents in the study said they would strongly consider reporting their coworker for violating the mandate, while 45% of workers said they would not consider reporting their coworkers if they violated the shot mandate.

The significant number of coworkers who would report their fellow colleagues comes as 58% of employees support Biden’s mandate in the workplace, according to the study.

However, 75% of unvaccinated employees said they are considering leaving their job when the mandate goes into effect.

As many as 45% said they would strongly consider leaving their job, while 35% of unvaccinated employees responded that they fear getting fired over the vaccine mandate if they don’t comply, the study indicated.

More than half (51%) said that they are worried that the federal mandate will create more of a division at their company, while 1 in 4 employees said they feel uncomfortable talking about their vaccination status with their coworkers.

This has created distrust among workers, managers, employees, and developed cliques of vaccinated and unvaccinated employees in the workplace, according to Qualtrics.

Support of the vaccine mandate may boil down to the profession that a person works in, according to the study. The majority of respondents in the tech and IT sectors are strong proponents of the vaccination requirement in the workplace, while a quarter of government, healthcare, and private employees oppose the mandate.

“Vaccine mandates are politically polarizing and have become an emotional issue for employees and their families,” Sydney Heimbrock, chief industry advisor for government at Qualtrics, told USA Today. “That’s why, leading with empathy will be key to creating the environment of trust and mutual understanding we need to successfully navigate this new workplace challenge.”