San Diego officials said Thursday that 86 employees received advance layoff notices after failing to comply with the city’s vaccination mandate before Monday’s deadline.
“Getting vaccinated and getting the booster dose is critical to the health and well-being of our employees and the people we serve,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement.
“We know that those who get vaccinated and get the booster dose have a lower risk of severe symptoms, hospitalization, and death. My hope remains that no city employee chooses to be laid off rather than receive a free and safe vaccine to protect themselves, their families and their community. “
The total is a far cry from the 900 employees who were sent option letters in early December warning that they could face firing if they did not comply with the city’s mandate. There are about 11,300 municipal employees.
According to the city mandate, all employees had to be fully vaccinated before January 3. People are considered to be fully vaccinated 14 days after their second dose of the vaccine or their last dose for the single-vial vaccine. Those who chose not to get vaccinated had several options: apply for a medical or religious exemption, apply for unpaid leave, apply for retirement, or resign.
Those who did not make any of the options outlined were subject to termination, a process that begins with prior notice of termination and includes a hearing. City officials made it clear that if an employee is vaccinated before receiving the official notice of termination, they will not be fired.
City officials could not immediately provide information on the departments that received the most letters.
The city’s vaccination mandate has been criticized by some employees, especially police officers.
Police officers have had the lowest vaccination rate among employee groups. The union that represents them asked the city to give employees the option of getting tested instead of having to get vaccinated, but the city did not back down.
Many police officers – 478 as of Wednesday – requested an exemption. Most of them were requests of a religious nature.
Jack Schaeffer, president of the police union, said Tuesday that meetings between union members who requested exemptions and the city began the week of Dec. 27. He said he was not aware of any decision made by the city and added that the union is monitoring how the city handles the applications.
“We’re kind of on hold,” Schaeffer said. “The bottom line for us is to see how these reasonable accommodations play out.”
Jesse Conners, president of the city firefighters union that represents city firefighters, said Tuesday that only five firefighters received firing letters, but that all five were already in the process of being vaccinated. He said nine others did not select one of the available options because they are currently on some form of protected license.
Conners said it’s unclear what the process will be for firefighters who are still in the process of being fully vaccinated, but they may need to take some time off until they are in compliance.
As of Wednesday, 9,695 city employees were fully vaccinated. Another 1,095 had applied for some type of religious or medical exemption. The city’s Human Resources department is currently evaluating all of those requests on an individual basis, a process that is expected to take at least a couple more weeks. After the review is complete, the city plans to notify employees if their exemption will be tailored to their job group or classification.
Employees facing termination will have the option to appeal the city’s decision during a hearing. Employees who do not comply with the regulations will continue to work and get paid while the dismissal process unfolds, according to a notice that a union, the Municipal Employees Association, published in your website.
The notice said that employees would have the option of presenting proof of vaccination or vaccination appointment during the hearing, which would allow them to keep their jobs.
If the city goes ahead with the layoff after the hearing, the employee would have the option to appeal the layoff to the city’s Civil Services Commission.
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