States Conflicted Over Vaccine Mandates for Restaurant Workers and Customers

Last week, the attorney generals of 24 states sent a letter to President Biden saying they will pursue “every available legal option” to prevent the White House’s proposed worker vaccination mandate. Biden’s vaccination mandate would require employers of any company employing at least 100 people to check that workers have either received the needed shots or tested negative within the prior week.

Meanwhile, several major markets, including New York City, New Orleans, Honolulu and San Francisco, are rolling out inoculation requirements for dine-in customers. Just this week, the Seattle and King County public health department issued an order that will require any customer looking to dine indoors to provide either proof of inoculation or negative results from a COVID-19 test taken in the prior 72 hours. 

Seattle’s order does not include requirements for restaurant employees, but the health department is encouraging the workers to voluntarily get the vaccine. ??Still, as the attorney generals of the 24 states argue, such inoculation policies could potentially slow down the restaurant industry’s post-pandemic recovery, particularly by driving more working Americans out of the job market, which is already seeing an all-time high quit rate and shortage of labor. 

“At least some Americans will simply leave the job market instead of complying,” read a letter sent to the president by the 24 attorney generals. “This will strain an already-too-tight labor market, burdening companies and (therefore) threatening the jobs of even those who have received a vaccine.”

Notably, Seattle’s measure does not require customers with proof of vaccination to also show identification, which could curb one possible point of friction between restaurant employees and potential guests. According to a One Fair Wage report, 55% of restaurant workers were thinking of leaving their jobs because of the harassment they faced when asking diners to comply with safety protocols. Last week, a restaurant employee in New York City was attacked for asking for proof of vaccination. 

But consumer and employee sentiment around vaccine requirements isn’t so black-and-white. A July report from Datassential found that nearly 30% of diners would leave a restaurant if asked to present proof of their vaccination status, while another study from the National Restaurant Association showed 33% of consumers would actually be more likely to dine in a restaurant with a vaccine mandate. Similarly, some employees may be more inclined to return to work if they know they will only be interacting with vaccinated customers and staff. 

All of the pro-mandate jurisdictions point to the rapid spread of the delta variant of coronavirus — which is resulting in nearly 2,000 new deaths reported each day — as their primary reason for instituting dine-in restrictions. In March, before the vaccine was widely available, the CDC released a study that found illness and death rates from COVID-19 higher in jurisdictions that permitted on-site restaurant dining. 

The King County statement cited an analysis by the University of Washington, which predicts the vaccine verification policy at restaurants and other establishments could prevent “between 17,900 and 75,900 infections, 421 and 1,760 hospitalizations, and 63 and 257 deaths locally over six months.”

"We are at a critical point in this pandemic, with high levels of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, and no certainty as to what will follow the Delta variant,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a statement. “Vaccination is our best shield against this deadly virus.”

While few would argue that vaccinations protect from infection, it is clear that not everyone agrees mandates are the best option for the restaurant industry.