Sunday, August 1, 2021

Here are the companies requiring proof of vaccination from employees Yahoo Money STEPHANIE ASYMKOS July 29, 2021, 2:57 PM

Here are the companies requiring proof of vaccination from employees

San Francisco bars set to require proof of vaccination

to prove that you were of
age to be able to drink

Some of corporate America are drawing hard lines on Covid-19 vaccination when workers return to the office — led this week by Big Tech.

Facebook and Google this week announced U.S.-based staffers must provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination, while Twitter confirmed to Forbes that it requires in-person employees to prove their vaccination status after the company closed its headquarters and delayed its reopening plans.

Restaurateur and Union Square Hospitality Group CEO Danny Meyer announced on Thursday that not only employees but patrons who wish to dine indoors at the group’s full-service restaurants in New York City and Washington, D.C., will be required to show proof of vaccination beginning September 7.

“We feel like we’ve got an amazing responsibility to keep our guests and staff members safe,” Meyer told CNBC. “And that’s what we’re gonna do.”

For now, the company isn’t requiring mandatory vaccinations for its Shake Shack locations since the fast-food chain falls outside of the latest decree.

“Shake Shack will make the appropriate decision for them at the appropriate time,” Meyer said.

Short of mandates, companies and organizations alike are also offering cash incentives and on-site vaccinations to help ramp up vaccinations among their workers. Others have warned of penalties for staying unvaccinated, like the National Football League which is fining unvaccinated athletes nearly $15,000 for every pandemic safety measure infraction.

Here’s a list of companies requiring vaccination, incentivizing vaccination, or providing on-site vaccines in the U.S.

Requiring a vaccinated workforce

San Francisco Bay Area Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are requiring new hires to be vaccinated
Michelin-starred New York City restaurant Eleven Madison Park
The Broadway production of Hamilton
Houston Methodist Hospital network
Lastique International Corp., a raw plastics distributor and recycler in Louisville, Kentucky
New York City department store Saks
Senior assisted living facilities Sunrise Senior Living, Enlivant, and IntegraCare
Facebook employees at U.S. campuses
U.S.-based Google employees
Employees of The Washington Post
New York City-based Morgan Stanley employees
CNN employees
Chicago-based Fifty/50 Restaurant Group
Le Bernardin, a Michelin-starred New York City restaurant
Twitter
Asset manager BlackRock
All office-based employees of Lyft
Private healthcare network Ascension Health
Cast and crew of U.S. Netflix productions
San Francisco city employees
Real estate firm, the Durst Corporation, is requiring all employees to be vaccinated or they will face termination.
Investment bank Jeffries Financial Group
Corporate and management-level staff of Walmart must be vaccinated by October 4
Norweigan Cruise Lines crew
Employees and crew members at all U.S.-based Disney parks

Incentivizing vaccinations

Discount grocery chain ALDI is offering its hourly employees up to four hours of paid time off for both doses of the vaccine. Salaried workers will get their hours adjusted to accommodate vaccination appointments.
New hires in Amazon warehouses can earn a $100 bonus on their first day for showing proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
Amtrak is offering employees a bonus equivalent to two hours of pay upon providing proof of vaccination plus excused absences for vaccination appointments during work hours.
Vaccinated employees of American Airlines will get an additional paid vacation day in 2022 and a $50 bonus.
Bolthouse Farms, the maker of juices and dressings, is offering its employees a $500 bonus if they get vaccinated at one of the company’s on-site clinics or can show proof of vaccination.
Yogurt and dairy product maker Chobani will cover up to six hours of time for hourly employees to get vaccinated.
Darden Restaurants, the hospitality group behind well-known restaurants like Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, is offering hourly employees four hours of pay to cover both doses of the vaccine.
Discount retailer Dollar General is offering its hourly workers a one-time stipend equivalent to four hours of work to get vaccinated. Salaried employees will receive scheduling accommodations for vaccination appointments.
Grocery delivery service Instacart is giving a $25 stipend to both in-store employees and independent contractors who have made at least five deliveries in a month.
JBS USA and Pilgrim's, the meat-processing plant, is offering its employees a $100 bonus for receiving the COVID-19 vaccination.
Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain is offering its employees a $100 bonus with proof of inoculation, and essential and frontline staffers will receive a $100 store credit and 1,000 fuel points. Those who can’t receive the vaccination for medical or religious reasons are still eligible for the $100 so long as they complete an educational course.
The Mid-Atlantic and Southeast supermarket chain Lidl is offering its employees a $200 bonus for receiving the COVID-19 vaccination and scheduling flexibility for vaccination appointments.
Employees of both McDonald’s corporate offices and restaurants of the fast-food giant will receive up to four hours of paid time off to get vaccinated.
Southeastern grocer Publix is giving its employees $125 gift cards when providing proof of vaccination.
Starbucks employees will receive up to four hours of paid time for vaccine dosage appointments.
Target is offering hourly employees up to four hours of paid time off per vaccine dosage and will reimburse up to $30 roundtrip for using a Lyft to their vaccination appointments.
Trader Joe's is giving its workers an additional two hours of pay for each dose they receive and the freedom to adjust their schedules to accommodate vaccine appointments.
Small businesses generally don’t have the resources to fund costly company-wide inoculation clinics or issue vaccination bonuses. As an incentive, the IRS is offering businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 500 employees a refundable tax credit to offset time used by employees to receive or recover from vaccinations and reimburse for paid sick and family leave for employees due to COVID-19.

Providing at-work inoculations

Amazon is providing on-site vaccination for its U.S. front-line employees
Bolthouse Farms
Last month, Houston’s Legacy Restaurants hosted a two-day vaccine pop-up for employees and their spouses
MGM Resorts has opened a vaccination clinic at the Mandalay Bay resort
Los Angeles County has a mobile vaccine unit for the city’s essential workers
Vivint, a Utah-based home security company

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Stephanie is a reporter for Yahoo Money and Cashay, a new personal finance website. Follow her on Twitter @SJAsymkos.

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Frustration as Biden, Congress allow eviction ban to expire Associated Press LISA MASCARO, JOSH BOAK AND KEVIN FREKING July 30, 2021, 9:02 PM

Frustration as Biden, Congress allow eviction ban to expire

Eviction Moratorium For Renters Set To Come To An End

WASHINGTON (AP) — Anger and frustration mounted in Congress as a nationwide eviction moratorium expired at midnight Saturday — one Democratic lawmaker even camping outside the Capitol in protest as millions of Americans faced being forced from their homes.

Lawmakers said they were blindsided by President Joe Biden’s inaction as the deadline neared, some furious that he called on Congress to provide a last-minute solution to protect renters. The rare division between the president and his party carried potential lasting political ramifications.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the chair of the Financial Services Committee, said Saturday on CNN: “We thought that the White House was in charge.”

Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., camped outside the Capitol, said: “I don’t plan to leave before some type of change happens."

“We are only hours away from a fully preventable housing crisis,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., during a floor speech in a rare Saturday session as senators labored over an infrastructure package.

“We have the tools and we have the funding," Warren said. "What we need is the time.”

More than 3.6 million Americans are at risk of eviction, some in a matter of days. The moratorium was put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the COVID-19 crisis when jobs shifted and many workers lost income.

The eviction ban was intended to prevent further virus spread by people put out on the streets and into shelters. Congress approved nearly $47 billion in federal housing aid to the states during the pandemic, but it has been slow to make it into the hands of renters and landlords owed payments.

The day before the ban was set to expire, Biden called on local governments to “take all possible steps” to immediately disburse the funds.

“There can be no excuse for any state or locality not accelerating funds to landlords and tenants that have been hurt during this pandemic,” he said in a statement late Friday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pointed Democratic House members in the same direction, urging them in a letter Saturday night to check into how the money already allocated has been distributed so far in their own states and localities. She said the Treasury Department, which transferred the funds earlier in the year, offered to brief lawmakers next week.

Biden set off the scramble by announcing Thursday he would allow the eviction ban to expire instead of challenging a recent Supreme Court ruling signaling this would be the last deadline.

The White House has been clear that Biden would have liked to extend the federal eviction moratorium because of the spread of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. But there were also concerns that challenging the court could lead to a ruling restricting the administration’s ability to respond to future public health crises.

On a 5-4 vote in late June, the Supreme Court allowed the broad eviction ban to continue through the end of July. One of those in the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, made clear he would block any additional extensions unless there was “clear and specific congressional authorization.”

Biden, heeding the court's warning, called on Congress on Thursday to swiftly pass legislation to extend the date.

Racing to respond, Democrats strained to draft a bill and rally the votes. Pelosi implored colleagues to pass legislation extending the deadline, calling it a “moral imperative,” to protect renters and also the landlords who are owed compensation.

Waters quickly produced a draft of a bill that would require the CDC to continue the ban through Dec. 31. At a hastily arranged hearing Friday morning to consider the bill she urged her colleagues to act.

But Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the top Republican on another panel handling the issue, said the Democrats’ bill was rushed.

“This is not the way to legislate,” she said.

Landlords, who have opposed the moratorium and challenged it repeatedly in court, are against any extension. They, too, are arguing for speeding up the distribution of rental assistance.

The National Apartment Association and several others this week filed a federal lawsuit asking for $26 billion in damages because of the impact of the moratorium.

Despite behind-the-scenes wrangling throughout the day, Democratic lawmakers had questions and concerns and could not muster support to extend the ban.

Revising the emergency legislation to shorten the eviction deadline to Oct. 18, in line with federal COVID-19 guidelines, drew a few more lawmakers in support — but still not enough for passage.

House Democrats, leaders tried to simply approve an extension by consent, without a formal vote, but House Republicans objected.

Democratic lawmakers were livid at the prospect of evictions in the middle of a surging pandemic.

Bush, who experienced homelessness as a young mother of two in her 20s, said that, at the time, she was working in a low-wage job.

“I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I went through, ever,” said Bush, now 45, wiping away tears during an interview at the Capitol, where dozens had joined her protest. “I don’t care what the circumstances are and so I’m going to fight now that I’m in a position to be able to do something about it.”

Waters said House leaders should have forced a vote and Biden should not have let the warnings form one justice on the Supreme Court prevent him from taking executive action to prevent evictions.

“The president should have moved on it,” Waters said. She vowed to try to pass the bill again when lawmakers return from a recess.

By the end of March, 6.4 million American households were behind on their rent, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As of July 5, roughly 3.6 million people in the U.S. said they faced eviction in the next two months, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.

Some places are likely to see spikes in evictions starting Monday, while other jurisdictions will see an increase in court filings that will lead to evictions over several months.

The administration is trying to keep renters in place through other means. It released more than $1.5 billion in rental assistance in June, which helped nearly 300,000 households. The departments of Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs extended their foreclosure-related eviction moratoriums through the end of September on households living in federally insured, single-family homes late Friday, after Biden had asked them to do so.

Aides to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the chair of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, said the two were working on legislation to extend the moratorium and were asking Republicans not to block it.

___

Associated Press writers Alexandra Jaffe, Mark Sherman and Alan Fram contributed to this report.

The New Under Ground Church-THE TRUTH MUST BE TOLD

Sunday, August 1, 2021