Vans Parent Company to Start Firing Unvaccinated Employees

Shoshy Ciment
·2 min read

VF Corp. is the latest retail company to double down on vaccinations for office workers.

The parent company for The North Face, Vans, Supreme and Timberland brands will begin to fire all U.S. office-based employees on Jan. 31 if they have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19., a company spokesperson confirmed to FN on Sunday.

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In October, VF said it was requiring all U.S. office-based employees to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 1. Those who have not been vaccinated by that date and do not have a religious or medical based accommodation will be terminated on Jan. 31.

“Given easy access to effective vaccines and our desire to resume more normal operations in our facilities in the US, we issued a communication last October requiring all U.S. office-based VF associates to be fully vaccinated by January 1, 2022,” the spokesperson told FN in a statement. “We have pursued this new requirement in the most transparent way with our associates so that everyone has the opportunity to make plans that are right for them.”

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration’s federal vaccine mandate in a 6-3 decision. If passed, the rule would have required companies with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccinations or weekly tests across all staff. Even before the ruling, various companies have announced their own vaccine requirements, with some beginning to fire employees who do not comply.

Columbia Sportswear Co. and TJX Companies both recently said they will fire employees who do not receive the vaccine by a certain date. Nike is reported to have said similarly. Other companies including Under Armour, Walmart and Saks Fifth Avenue are requiring vaccines among office staff as well.

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