Morgan Stanley, BlackRock Now Mandating Vaccines For Office Return
Employees at Morgan Stanley must be vaccinated if they want to return to their desks in New York City under new rules put in place by the firm.
Staff at the bank have been told that starting July 12, all workers entering the company’s buildings in the city and Westchester County will have to confirm they have been immunized, The Wall Street Journal reports. Employees will be required to state their vaccination status by the first of next month. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman believes it will only be a few workers who won’t get the shot.
“We’ll deal with that when we get there,” he said at a conference last week. “Right now, I’m focused on the 98%, not the 1% or 2%.”
Companies are allowed to restrict access to workplaces to the unvaccinated under federal laws, though they may have to make arrangements for those who elect not to receive the vaccine on religious or health grounds.
Last week, BlackRock told workers in-person work will only be for vaccinated people, and the company said it will update those unvaccinated later in the summer of the workplace plans. Workers told the company they would feel more comfortable if there were a formal policy in place that blocked unvaccinated people from returning in place, Bloomberg reported.
All employees will need to tell the asset manager if they have been vaccinated or not by the end of the month. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs has set a mandate that employees tell the bank if they have had the vaccine. Wells Fargo is only asking for voluntary disclosures.
Vaccination mandates are the latest chapter in the back-to-office discussion, as companies chart how their return will look as the crisis phase of the coronavirus pandemic eases. Some companies are moving toward a hybrid working arrangement, while others are pushing to return.
Morgan Stanley’s CEO, for one, has said he will take a “dim view” of those who are not back at their desks by September.
"If you want to get paid in New York, you need to be in New York,” he said at a virtual conference. “If you can go into a restaurant in New York City, you can come into an office.”
