Washington: Labor and Industries adds more vaccine passport restrictions to businesses – IOTW Report

Washington: Labor and Industries adds more vaccine passport restrictions to businesses

Washington Policy.org: During an Association of Washington Business Webinar on Tuesday, Craig Blackwood, the Deputy Assistant Director of Labor and industry (L&I) provided some additional guidance on the L&I vaccine passport rules for businesses operating without social distancing and masks.

The guidance includes;

  • L&I clarified that that a verbal attestation of vaccination by an employee to an employer is a ‘no-no.’ The attestation from the employee, must be a written record for L&I to audit and subsequently apply penalties for employer violations.
  • According to L&I, asking an employee about their vaccination status is not a HIPAA violation, but follow-up questions will place employers in ‘Dangerous Waters.’ This is consistent with the previous examples given by the Washington Policy Center on the HIPAA law application to the L&I rules. An employee may tell an employer vaccination status, but without consent, the employer may not be able to tell L&I. (5/26 Update – The vaccine passport mandate may also violate the Americans with Disabilities Act – ADA).
  • The Governors office confirmed the state of emergency will continue past June 30.
  • The Department of Health confirmed that employers don’t have to check if customers are vaccinated. It is an ‘honor system.’
  • The Governor’s office confirmed the state mask mandate will remain for unvaccinated people after June 30 because there isn’t yet a vaccine for those under 12. There is no projected date for removing mask mandates.

L&I asking for the information is placing a business in a position of potentially violating HIPAA or losing its business license. MORE -> Labor and Industries adds more vaccine passport restrictions to businesses » Publications » Washington Policy Center.

12 Comments on Washington: Labor and Industries adds more vaccine passport restrictions to businesses

  1. My company is removing the mask mandate but only for vaccinated employees. They require proof of vaccination and then issue special stickers for the employees ID badge. Anyone without the sticker is still required to mask up.

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  2. Will those stickers have gold stars on them Jason?
    I mean that’s the same thing.
    This is all a test to see who will be compliant to having God given rights destroyed.

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  3. BS. It’s to nail employees who they find out have lied.

    “…verbal attestation of vaccination by an employee to an employer is a ‘no-no.’ The attestation from the employee, must be a written record for L&I to audit and subsequently apply penalties for employer violations.”

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  4. Wouldn’t this have been the equivalent of asking employees if they were gay and/or were currently having anal sex back in the early days of AIDS? What if a gay employee had lied and said “no”? Can you imagine the documentation they’d have had to provide: a glossy laminated card that fit in their wallet saying that they were a certified rump ranger (and thus a potential health hazard to non-rump rangers). Weren’t personal medical issues like these the exact reasons why HIPAA was passed in the first place?

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