{"id":942410,"date":"2021-10-30T16:44:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-30T20:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=942410"},"modified":"2021-10-30T16:44:22","modified_gmt":"2021-10-30T20:44:22","slug":"tech-company-on-biden-vaccine-mandate-we-resisted-vaccine-requirements-but-must-now-comply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tech-company-on-biden-vaccine-mandate-we-resisted-vaccine-requirements-but-must-now-comply\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Company On Biden Vaccine Mandate: We \u2018Resisted Vaccine Requirements,\u2019 But \u2018Must Now Comply\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftech-company-on-biden-vaccine-mandate-we-resisted-vaccine-requirements-but-must-now-comply%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=942410&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>On Tuesday, Lumen Technologies, formerly known as CenturyLink, sent an email to employees telling them that \u201cas a condition of employment,\u201d they will have to be fully-vaccinated by December 8, given the company\u2019s status as a federal contractor.<\/p>\n<p>In the email, the company noted that they \u201chave worked hard to avoid vaccine requirements,\u201d but because they are a federal contractor, they must abide by the Biden administration\u2019s \u201cfar-reaching\u201d mandate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs you know, we have strongly encouraged COVID-19 vaccinations since they became available but have equally resisted vaccine requirements,\u201d the email stated. \u201cBased on government regulations, our status as a federal contractor and our support of our customers \u2014 many of which are also federal contractors \u2014 we must now comply with presidential orders to require vaccines within Lumen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have tried to avoid this action and preferred to encourage voluntary vaccination, but the rules and regulations are clear, and complying is the only business decision we can make,\u201d the email continued.<\/p>\n<p>After encouraging employees to continue reading with an open mind before making any job decision, and noting that the company greatly values its employees, Lumen stated that the only possible exceptions to the mandate would be \u201ca sincerely held religious belief or medical condition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The email added that even \u201cwork-from-home employees\u201d who work \u201cdirectly [or] indirectly with covered federal contracts\u201d are subject to the mandate, and that it is \u201ca condition of employment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire reached out to Lumen for comment, but as of this reporting, they have not responded.<\/p>\n<p>On September 9, the White House issued&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/presidential-actions\/2021\/09\/09\/executive-order-on-requiring-coronavirus-disease-2019-vaccination-for-federal-employees\/\">executive<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/presidential-actions\/2021\/09\/09\/executive-order-on-ensuring-adequate-covid-safety-protocols-for-federal-contractors\/\">orders<\/a> regarding vaccination requirements for all federal workers, as well as for federal contractors:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2026in light of the&nbsp;public health guidance regarding the most effective and necessary defenses against COVID-19, I have determined that to promote the health and safety of the Federal workforce and the efficiency of the civil service, it is necessary to require COVID-19 vaccination for all Federal employees, subject to such exceptions as required by law.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As for contractors, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.saferfederalworkforce.gov\/downloads\/Draft%20contractor%20guidance%20doc_20210922.pdf\">detailed<\/a>: \u201cCovered contractors must ensure that all covered contractor employees are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, unless the employee is legally entitled to an accommodation. Covered contractor employees must be fully vaccinated no later than December 8, 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, during a Wednesday press briefing, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/press-briefings\/2021\/10\/27\/press-briefing-by-white-house-covid-19-response-team-and-public-health-officials-64\/\">stated<\/a> that the December 8 deadline has some flexibility:<\/p>\n<p>But even once we hit those deadlines, we expect federal agencies and contractors will<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday, Lumen Technologies, formerly known as CenturyLink, sent an email to employees telling them that \u201cas a condition of employment,\u201d they will have to be fully-vaccinated by December 8, given the company\u2019s status as a federal contractor.In the email, the company noted that they \u201chave worked hard to avoid vaccine requirements,\u201d but because they are a federal contractor, they must abide by the Biden administration\u2019s \u201cfar-reaching\u201d mandate.\u201cAs you know, we have strongly encouraged COVID-19 vaccinations since they became available but have equally resisted vaccine requirements,\u201d the email stated. \u201cBased on government regulations, our status as a federal contractor and our support of our customers \u2014 many of which are also federal contractors \u2014 we must now comply with presidential orders to require vaccines within Lumen.\u201d\u201cWe have tried to avoid this action and preferred to encourage voluntary vaccination, but the rules and regulations are clear, and complying is the only business decision we can make,\u201d the email continued.After encouraging employees to continue reading with an open mind before making any job decision, and noting that the company greatly values its employees, Lumen stated that the only possible exceptions to the mandate would be \u201ca sincerely held religious belief or medical condition.\u201dThe email added that even \u201cwork-from-home employees\u201d who work \u201cdirectly [or] indirectly with covered federal contracts\u201d are subject to the mandate, and that it is \u201ca condition of employment.\u201dThe Daily Wire reached out to Lumen for comment, but as of this reporting, they have not responded.On September 9, the White House issued\u00a0executive orders regarding vaccination requirements for all federal workers, as well as for federal contractors:\u2026in light of the\u00a0public health guidance regarding the most effective and necessary defenses against COVID-19, I have determined that to promote the health and safety of the Federal workforce and the efficiency of the civil service, it is necessary to require COVID-19 vaccination for all Federal employees, subject to such exceptions as required by law.As for contractors, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force later detailed: \u201cCovered contractors must ensure that all covered contractor employees are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, unless the employee is legally entitled to an accommodation. Covered contractor employees must be fully vaccinated no later than December 8, 2021.\u201dHowever, during a Wednesday press briefing, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients stated that the December 8 deadline has some flexibility:But even once we hit those deadlines, we expect federal agencies and contractors will follow their standard HR processes and that, for any of the probably relatively small percent of employees that are not in compliance, they\u2019ll go through education, counseling, accommodations, and then enforcement.So, these processes play out across weeks, not days. And so, to be clear, we\u2019re creating flexibility within the system. We\u2019re offering people multiple opportunities to get vaccinated. There is not a cliff here.\u00a0And the purpose, I think, most importantly, is to get people vaccinated and protected, not to punish them.The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-942410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}