NYC Vaccine Mandate Applies to Coop Members who Work Shifts!

URGENT REMINDER: New York City Vaccine Mandate goes into effect on Monday, December 27

December 24, 2021

Dear Members,

The following email was previously sent to all Coop members on Friday, Dec. 17. It outlines the details of the New York City Vaccine Mandate and how the Coop will implement this mandate. We want to make clear that the mandate is an Executive Order of the NYC Department of Mental Health and Hygiene. Some members mistakenly believed that the mandate originated with the Coop. The Coop is following an Order of the City of New York and the guidance provided by the City. The Coop did not write this mandate nor its requirements and parameters.

Many of you are aware of the requirements of the vaccine mandate for members who work shifts or members who want to request a vaccine accommodation for medical, religious, moral or ethical reasons. You do not need to read any further as the Coop has no additional details to share. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

IF YOU DID NOT READ THE 12/17 EMAIL, PLEASE READ ON. The mandate requires all members working shifts, for any period of time at the Coop, to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

For working members who want to request an accommodation, the deadline for submitting the request is Monday, Dec 27.  Requests for accommodation will NOT be accepted after Dec. 27 for current Coop members.

The Coop is strongly urging all members to be prepared for the implementation of this mandate on Dec. 27.

In cooperation,

Ann Herpel, General Coordinator

On behalf of the General Coordinator Team

 

December 17, 2021

Dear Member,

On December 15, the City of New York provided detailed guidance regarding the vaccine mandate for private sector workers that goes into effect on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. The mandate requires that ALL WORKERS in NYC provide proof of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Monday, Dec. 27 or request a medical, religious, moral or ethical accommodation by Dec. 27.

According to the NYC guidelines, the mandate includes “volunteers” which in the Coop context means member-workers. The vaccine mandate applies to any member who is required to work a shift to fulfill the Coop’s member labor obligation. It will also apply to any children 14 and older with working papers on file who come to work a shift for the adult in their household.

For members who work shift(s) that are not scheduled through the shift calendar in Member Services – for example GM Chair, Gazette, Compost, Bookkeeping – the mandate also applies to you. You will receive separate communication from the Coop with further instructions.

The mandate does NOT apply to members who are shopping. Members do not have to be vaccinated to shop at the Coop.

Please continue to read this email to the end to understand how the NYC vaccine mandate applies to your individual circumstance and the consequences for failing to comply with the mandate.

PROVIDING PROOF OF VACCINATION

Beginning Monday, Dec. 27, all member-workers must provide proof of vaccination when checking in for their shift. The proof must show one dose of the J&J vaccine, the first of the 2-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the completed 2-dose regime.

Valid proofs include:

  • A photo or hard copy of their CDC vaccination card
  • NYC COVID Safe App
  • New York State Excelsior Pass
  • CLEAR’s Digital Vaccine Card, CLEAR Health Pass
  • Official vaccine record
  • A photo or hard copy of an official vaccination record of a vaccine administered outside the United States for one of the following vaccines: AstraZeneca/SK Bioscience, Serum Institute of India/COVISHIELD and Vaxzevria, Sinopharm, or Sinovac

If you are fully vaccinated but forget to bring your proof, you will not be allowed to work. The Coop will cancel the shift as a one-time courtesy.

You will have to provide this proof separately for each and every shift that you work including those on the same day. The Coop will not be retaining your vaccination information in your Member Services account.

If you show proof of receiving 1 dose of a 2-dose vaccine regime, you must receive the second dose by February 10, 2022, to comply with the vaccine mandate. If you don’t receive the second dose by Feb. 10, you will not be allowed to work shifts at the Coop until you complete the vaccine series and provide proof when checking in for a work shift.

SUBMITTING A VACCINE ACCOMMODATION REQUEST – DEADLINE MONDAY, DEC 27

If you are planning to not take the vaccine because of medical, religious, moral, ethical, personal, political, or philosophical reasons, you must complete the accommodation request form located in your member services account by Mon., Dec. 27. The Vaccine Accommodation Request form is located in Member Services, under “Virtual Office”, “Complete Forms and Requests.”

https://members.foodcoop.com/services/vax_request

If you need assistance logging into your Member Services account, please contact the Membership Office. You may also use the computer located on the second floor to access this form in Member Services.

All accommodation requests must be submitted by Dec. 27. No requests for accommodations can be accepted after Dec. 27 per NYC mandate.

You may continue to schedule and complete work shifts until the request for accommodation has been decided. The Coop will contact you directly when it has determined the outcome of your request. Please do not contact the Membership Office to ask for a determination or answer. If your accommodation request is denied, you must comply with the vaccine mandate in order to be permitted to fulfill your workslot requirement.

NON-COMPLIANCE WITH NYC VACCINE MANDATE

If you fail to:

  1. provide proof of vaccination for all shifts meeting on or after Mon., Dec 27, or
  2. request an accommodation by Mon., Dec 27,

you cannot work shifts at the Coop.

You will be denied entry for work and will need to cancel any shifts that meet on or after Dec. 27. If you fail to cancel the shifts, you will be marked as “absent” for those shifts and one credit will be deducted from your shift credit bank.

For members who do not comply with the mandate or fail to request a vaccine accommodation, you will continue to be charged for shift cycles as you remain responsible for fulfilling the Coop’s member labor requirement. The shift cycles will be debited from your shift credit bank up till you are negative 3 cycles (-3).

You will be able to continue shopping at the Coop until your status is “Suspended” AND your 14-day grace period is expired. At that point, you will not be able to shop unless you comply with the mandate and resume working shifts.

You can take 2 actions to avoid being charged for shift cycles:

  1. Request a leave from the Coop
  2. Apply for a Coop work exemption

You will find the forms for leaves or work exemptions in your Member Services account under “Virtual Office” and “Complete Forms and Requests”.

You may resume scheduling and working shifts once you are able to provide proof of vaccination (either 1 dose of the J&J vaccine or 2-doses of the Moderna/Pfizer vaccines).

CONCLUSION

Please be prepared to comply with the New York City vaccine mandate by Mon., Dec 27. Come ready to show your vaccine record for every scheduled shift or apply for an accommodation no later than Dec. 27. There will be no exceptions to the NYC vaccine mandate program and requirements. Please do not ask the Coop to make an exception for you. It is not within our power to do so. In order to manage the implementation of this mandate for a workforce of 11,000 “volunteer” workers the Coop staff needs your full cooperation.

If you want more information about the mandate, follow this link to the NYC Department of Health https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-vaccines.page

Sincerely,

Ann Herpel and Lisa Moore, General Coordinators

On behalf of the General Coordinator Team