In a memo to employees on Tuesday, Fox News announced staff members must now add their vaccination status to the company’s human resources and finance interface, Workday.
The memo, published by AdWeek, said the information was necessary “for space planning and contact tracing purposes in conjunction with CDC/state city health and safety guidelines.”
Select essential employees will undergo weekly COVID-19 testing on-site on Monday and Thursday “due to their work environment” in Fox’s New York office.
Fox employees were encouraged to voluntarily disclose their vaccination status in June but it was not a requirement.
Other media companies have fired employees because of their vaccination status. In early August, CNN fired three of its employees for coming to work unvaccinated.
Jeff Zucker, the company’s president, told employees in a memo there was a “zero-tolerance policy on this.”
“I think it is fair to say that we are all feeling a mix of anticipation, anxiety, frustration, confusion, and exasperation … I get it,” Zucker added.
Jeff Zucker adds in his memo to CNN staff: "In the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated. All three have been terminated. Let me be clear — we have a zero-tolerance policy on this."
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 5, 2021
The company’s offices were open on a voluntary basis and proof of vaccination was on the honor system.
“The CNN leader said that masks will be required in Atlanta, Washington, and Los Angeles offices when people aren’t eating, drinking or in an enclosed private space. Even in offices where mask-wearing is not mandated, people should do what feels comfortable to them ‘without any fear of retaliation or judgment from co-workers,’” per NPR.
While vaccine mandates are not required on a federal level, many large companies now require their employees to be fully vaccinated to return to work.
This includes Walmart, Google, Tyson Foods, Facebook, and United Airlines.
Office reopenings were delayed across the country after the Center for Disease Control recommended that everyone — even the fully vaccinated — wear masks while indoors in areas with a ‘substantial’ or ‘high’ transmission rate.
