Houston-area companies stick to vaccination policies after Supreme Court decision

Local companies say they will maintain their vaccination policies despite last week’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Biden administration’s vaccination mandate for firms with more than 100 employees. The Houston software company Hewlett Packard Enterprises, for example, said vaccinations are still required for employees to enter offices, work at clients’ sites, travel for business, or required for team members to enter work sites, work at third-party sites, and to travel or attend events on business. Those who decline to be vaccinated are required to work from home. More than 90 percent of the company’s workforce is vaccinated, a company spokesperson said. The company has not yet decided whether to require booster shots.

The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the vaccination mandate, dealing a blow to one of the administration's key initiatives to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control. The court’s conservative majority found that imposing the mandate reached beyond the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency charged with implementing the mandate. The majority argued that the pandemic wasn’t a workplace safety problem, but rather a public health issue. The court let stand the mandate requiring health care workers to be vaccinated. Legal experts and business leaders say the ruling isn’t likely to change much since many employers have already had policies put in place before the mandate went into effect. Bob Harvey, CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, the region’s leading business group, said he doesn’t anticipate employers changing their policies because of the Supreme Court ruling. “I don't think we'll see employers (with mandates) pull back frankly,” he said. “For those who are sitting on the fence they're less likely to move forward with a mandate.”