Can my employer mandate me to get a flu shot?
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Can my employer mandate me to get a flu shot?
New policy that all employees are required to be injected with the influenza vaccine. You can be exempt for medical conditions or because of your faith belief. Is this legal and do I have any recourse?
Asked on September 11, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Indiana
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
The fact is that your employer can do this. Making you get a flu shot is a completely reasonable condition of employment. And the fact is that allowances have been made for religious beliefs and existing medical conditions. Further, most employment relationships are what is known as "at will". This means that as a general rule an employer can hire or fire someone for any reason or no reason whatsoever and impose requirements as it sees fit. In turn, an employee can work for an employer or not, their choice.
The above holds true unless there is a stated company policy or a union/employment agreement to the contrary, or this situation has arisen due to some type of discrimination.
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