Updated Guidance on Protocol for Determining Vaccination Status of Federal Employees

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, launched by President Biden to guide federal agencies on safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced in updated guidance that agencies need to ask about the vaccination status of federal workers, who could face consequences for providing false information but may decline to answer.

Agencies will initially use an honor system when asking employees whether they are vaccinated through certification of vaccination forms. If there is a good faith allegation that an employee made a false statement on the form, the employee may be asked for provide additional documentation to verify their status. Certification of vaccination forms will soon go out to federal employees to attest to their vaccination status. Employees have the option to decline to disclose their vaccination status.

The task force explained in their frequently asked questions on vaccinations, “Federal employees who make a false statement on the Certification of Vaccination form could be subject to an adverse personnel action, up to and including removal from their position.”

The task force goes on to explain that it is a federal crime to provide false information the document, according to a statute that prohibits lying to the federal government, and notes, “falsification could also affect continuing eligibility for access to classified information or for employment in a national security position under applicable adjudicative guidelines.”

The guidance notes that “agencies should comply with any applicable Federal laws, including requirements under the Privacy Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act, and any applicable collective bargaining obligations” when requesting information on vaccination status.

National Treasury Employees Union National President Tony Reardon said of the new guidance, “[It] is clear the administration is moving quickly to implement this new vaccination and testing protocol on the federal workforce, and NTEU is in the process of bargaining the implementation to protect federal employee rights and make sure they are fully informed about their decisions."

Unvaccinated employees and employees who decline to disclose their vaccination status will be subject to weekly COVID-19 testing. Agencies have yet to establish a plan to implement widespread testing for unvaccinated employees.  The testing section of the task force’s guidance left many questions unanswered regarding how the widespread testing will occur and who will be in charge of enforcing the new policy.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre explained that agencies themselves would be responsible for implementing testing and would use their own funding for testing requirements. She explained, “They'll be in charge of that, how that moves forward. So that's kind of how that's going to be dispersed, the program.”