Hoping employees get vaccinated may no longer be enough
Hoping employees get vaccinated may no longer be enough
With the delta variant gaining traction and some employers reconsidering reopening schedules, vaccine mandates are gaining traction.
Mandates for health care workers and at hospitals are increasing, although it’s hard to fathom why this took so long.
New York City and the state of California have issued a form of vax mandate for workers too. So has the NFL.
Other companies, including United Airlines and Delta Air Lines require new hires to prove they’ve been vaccinated.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is urging New York City’s private businesses to require their workers to get vaccinated too. As many as a quarter of companies surveyed by one trade group says they will do just that, according to the New York Times.
The Globe wants Boston and area employers to the same.
“We all but shamed people,” Johnny Taylor, the C.E.O. of the Society for Human Resource Management told the Times. “But now we’re at a point that none of that’s working and we’ve got to close the gap.”
In late May, nearly one in four chamber members told us they would mandate vaccines. But most of those were small businesses – small shops or offices with 20 or fewer employees – where employees already had been, or were planning on, being vaccinated.
Larger employers, our survey showed, were more reluctant, or undecided back then, about mandating vaccines.
What’s the latest thinking about vaccine mandates for your workplace? Please let me know. I’ll keep your response confidential if you choose.
And what about mask mandates?
Gov. Charlie Baker and other governors are waiting from more guidance today from the Biden administration and the CDC on whether to recommend the resumption of mask-wearing, particularly in schools this fall for children under 12.
Baker plans to participate in a call with the White House today. (State House News)
And then there are some experts who recommend upgrading to N95 masks to help fight the delta variant.
Long COVID now an ADA covered disability
Long COVID can be considered a disability and is now protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act..
Extended sales tax holiday still going nowhere
The sales tax is our state's most regressive tax.
And yet more than one month after Gov. Charlie Baker proposed giving consumers and retailers a two-month sales tax holiday, Beacon Hill Democrats are blocking the idea from even being discussed.
The state has a two-day sales tax holiday scheduled for the weekend of Aug. 14-15. It appears the longer tax holiday will die without a debate (or even asking businesses how they feel about it), reports Matt Murphy for State House News.
"If you need shopping, I'd go on [tax free] weekend," said Sen. President Karen Spilka, showing an uncharacteristic lack of empathy.
"I still think it's the right thing to do for the people of Massachusetts," Baker said. "They worked hard. They generated a big piece of that surplus. I think we should give some of it back to them."
Considering what we've just been through, it would have been nice if our progressive legislative leaders at least allowed the tax holiday idea to be debated.
More corporations tie exec pay to DEI goals
A growing number of large employers are pegging executive compensation packages to meeting DEI targets.
A study of proxy statements of 300 companies on the S&P 500 found 27% had tethered executive compensation to diversity, equity and inclusion goals, according to HR firm Mercer.
That's up from around 12% to 15% before 2020, writes Ian Carlos for the Business Journals.
The amount of compensation companies tie to DEI varies, but it's tending to hover around 10% of an executive's potential annual bonus.
New Rep needs $200K to continue
We’re starting to learn a little more about what it might take to reopen (fourth item here) the New Repertory Theater in Watertown.
Jo Trompet, chairman of New Rep's board of directors, told the Globe Monday that unless New Rep can secure ongoing commitments of $200,000 a year from donors over the next several months, the theater would be forced to close.
Something's cooking on the streets of Wellesley
Some streets in Wellesley will be closed today for the filming of “Julia” an HBO series about the late celebrity chef Julia Childs.
The HBO series has been in production in other area locations, including Framingham. The series stars Sarah Lancashire, David Hyde Pierce, and Bebe Neuwirth. (Swellesley Report)
It's time for Newton to lift pot shop appointment rules
You can now get marijuana delivered to your doorstep. Two companies, one serving the Boston area and the other serving greater Northampton, launched home delivery. Nine more have been licensed to do so.
Meanwhile, Newton’s first recreational dispensary, Garden Remedies, will ask the City Council tonight to lift rules requiring customers make advance appointments.
Mandating appointments may have made sense when marijuana shops first opened and crowd control was a worry. But the rules -- which apply to no other business category -- are entirely superfluous now as more dispensaries open statewide without reports of crowds, traffic or other incidents.
Newton’s second marijuana dispensary Redi has opened at 24 Eliot Street at the intersection with Boylston Street/Route 9. I drive by there frequently and have yet to see more than two cars in the parking lot.
A third shop, Ascend, at 1089 Washington Street just outside West Newton Square, should open soon.
Also pending is MedMen at the former Shreve, Crump & Low location in Chestnut Hill.
All will require entirely unnecessary appointments unless the City Council lifts this restriction.
That’s today’s Need to Knows, unless you need another reason why we should all shop locally.
President, Newton-Needham Regional Chamber
617-244-1688
Your chamber is here when you need us.
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