City employees required to be vaccinated or get COVID-19 tests, Kansas City policy says
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Kansas City COVID-19 news
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Kansas City has been requiring employees to be vaccinated or undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing since June.
In an email Wednesday, spokeswoman Maggie Green wrote that the city’s policy “proactively” outlined COVID-19 safety measures for all city employees and work spaces.
Jackson County announced its vaccination or testing policy on Tuesday.
“This is an internal policy for KCMO employees, so we do not always do press releases or large public announcements for internal staff rules and procedures,” Green said in an email. “The info we sent earlier was an amendment to our existing COVID-19 policy, which has been in place for a while and has been amended a few times over the last several months.
“We have been doing internal messaging to our employee throughout the entire pandemic- to help them stay safe and healthy, and this was just another part of that process.”
It establishes procedures for vaccinated and unvaccinated employees, updates testing and quarantine policies as well as provides work safety rules.
The policy went into effect on June 4. It encourages all employees to get vaccinated. Anyone who doesn’t provide proof of that vaccination must get tested.
“We are happy to share this information with the public now, given that it has become a topic of interest over the past several days,” Green said. “And it’s good to know that we have been on the leading edge of implementing safety and health practices such as these.”
Under the policy, the city will provide free testing for employees who will have to get tested every 30 days. And if someone believes they might have been exposed to the virus or is experiencing symptoms, they can get additional testing.
Employees and visitors to City Hall must wear masks in any inside common areas.
The policy also says that no employee can be harassed for wearing a mask or not getting vaccinated.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 12:35 PM.
