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All Wisconsin state employees within the executive branch agencies are now required to provide their COVID-19 vaccination status and documentation by Sept. 9 in addition to wearing masks indoors.
But the new rule, which takes effect Monday, does not mandate that employees be vaccinated.
“The policy does not require employees to get a COVID-19 vaccination,” Tatyana Warrick, communications director for the Department of Administration, said in an email. “It only requires employees and contractors to provide their COVID-19 vaccination status.”
Previously, state employees were only required to wear masks in state buildings regardless of their vaccination status.
Not all Wisconsin public employees — like teachers and UW System employees — are affected by the rule.
According to the new policy, the state is implementing the requirement because it is “committed to making our buildings and worksites safe for our employees and citizens.”
“This requirement will allow the state as an employer to understand our progress toward our overall goal of community immunity against COVID-19 through vaccination,” a frequently asked questions document for employees on the new policy states. “Our employees are the most important part of state government, and without a healthy workforce, we cannot provide essential services for our residents and visitors to our state."
Warrick said disciplinary action may be taken if state employees don’t comply with workplace policies. Also, Warrick said DOA provides staff with information regarding how to locate their vaccination documentation.
The vaccination information employees provide will be treated as confidential medical records, according to the FAQ, and could be accessed by human resources staff or “other agency staff with a business need to know, and others authorized by law.”
[Gov. Tony Evers offers $100 to Wisconsin residents who get COVID-19 vaccine]
The change in policy follows the Food and Drug Administration Monday granting full authorization to Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, making it the first to surpass emergency use in the United States. Warrick said the change was in progress prior to the FDA’s full authorization, but it “dovetails nicely with today's announcement.”
At the beginning of the month, Dane County and the city of Madison instituted a requirement that employees provide proof of vaccination or a weekly negative COVID-19 test.
Ariana Vruwink, director of communications for the office of Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, said Monday that the county does not “anticipate changing anything at this juncture.”
“The policy is just getting up and going, and we are going to monitor,” Vruwink said in an email.
Last week, Dane County implemented an indoor mask mandate for everyone over the age of 2 years old.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will start requiring a weekly negative COVID-19 test for employees and students who have not shared proof of vaccination with University Health Services beginning Aug. 30.
