On Friday Los Angeles County CEO Fesia Davenport sent a message to all employees with an “urgent reminder that the Countywide vaccine policy takes effect today, October 1, 2021 … All County workforce members must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and must provide proof of vaccination unless they have been granted an exemption for medical or religious reasons.”
October 1 is an “effective date” – NOT a deadline to get vaccinated.
An employee cannot be disciplined at this time for failure to provide proof of vaccination. Under the County’s policy, unvaccinated employees would first be issued a “Notice of Vaccination Requirement.” These notices are NOT considered disciplinary and have NOT been issued yet. (The CEO’s message is NOT a “Notice of Vaccination Requirement.”) Once such notices ARE issued, employees will be allowed 45 additional days to get vaccinated. We understand that the Notices will be issued sometime in mid-October. This would take us into at least late November, which is the earliest that an employee could be disciplined for failure to comply with the policy.
SEIU Local 721 has NOT agreed to this Vaccine Policy and continues to advocate for a testing alternative for any employee who objects to vaccination.
The County has committed to continuing to negotiate over the effects of the policy and we are scheduled to meet next on Thursday, October 7.