Starbucks To Implement Vaccine Or Weekly Test Mandate For Employees

(RTTNews) - Coffee retailing giant Starbucks (SBUX) recently told its employees to get fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or undergo weekly testing, in order to comply with the Biden administration's upcoming vaccine mandate.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is mandating that private companies with at least 100 employees enforce weekly Covid testing and masking for unvaccinated workers to increase number of vaccinations and curb the spread of the virus. The mandate is set to go in effect on February 9.

Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver has asked the company's approximately 220,000 employees in the country to disclose their vaccination status by January 10.

The company strongly recommended its employees to get vaccinated, but said workers can choose not to get vaccinated and instead get tested weekly.

Employees will have to present a negative Covid-19 test starting February 9 and once a week going forward. The employees will be responsible for acquiring their own federally approved tests and submitting results.

"This is an important step we can take to help more partners get vaccinated, limit the spread of Covid-19, and create choices that partners can own based on what's best for them," Culver wrote. "If vaccination rates rise and community spread slows, we will adapt accordingly. But if things get worse, we may have to consider additional measures. For now, my hope is that we will all do our part to protect one another."