Protect your business
Protecting your business and employees starts with your here.
A few simple communications, policies, and programs can encourage COVID-19 vaccination among your workforce and help keep employees and your community, safe and healthy.
Follow the steps to your right.
Education is key to promoting vaccination and addressing misinformation. Help Your Employees Feel Confident About Getting the Vaccine
1. Provide information and resources to your employees in all the languages they commonly use.
2. Implement policies and programs that support getting vaccinated and clearly communicate those programs to your workforce. Under the American Rescue Plan, employers are entitled to tax credits for providing paid leave to employees who take time off related to COVID-19 vaccinations.
3. Create a culture that promotes getting the COVID-19 vaccine as a part of being healthy.
Emphasize the immediate benefits of getting vaccinated for the safety of their co-workers and your customers.
- Getting vaccinated will help keep you, your family, and your community healthy and safe.
- The vaccines are safe and are
- effective at protecting you, co-workers, their families, and your customers from COVID-19.
- Vaccines are an essential tool to help us move past this pandemic.
- By getting vaccinated, you can help your business get back on its feet faster and, prevent further spread of the virus.
4. Let employees know if there will be an opportunity to get vaccinated at the workplace.
5. Share where to get the vaccine.
More detailed guidance on how to encourage vaccination among employees can be found in the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation resource: Wisconsin
Vaccine Guidance for All Businesses; Ways to Encourage Vaccination. The
Wisconsin Department of Health Services also offers a “train the trainer” presentation, in which a presentation is tailored to your specific organization, and training is offered to better equip you and your leadership team in talking about
vaccine confidence and vaccine in general with your employees.
Call 1-844-684-1064 for vaccine-related questions.
Selecting the Best Vaccination Options for Employees
There are several ways employers can facilitate or promote vaccination. Here are four options for employers to connect their staff with vaccine providers:
- Hold an on-site (in the workplace) vaccination clinic with an approved vaccine provider.
- Hold an off-site (in the community) vaccination clinic with an approved vaccine provider.
- If already providing on-site medical services, become an approved vaccinator.
- Leverage existing local options and provide resources to your employees about other vaccine providers in your community.
Off-Site Vaccination Clinic with an Approved Vaccinator
You should consider an off-site employer-organized vaccination option in collaboration with an approved vaccine provider if your company has:
- A small or medium-sized workforce and does not have the resources or space to host a vaccination clinic on-site.
- The ability to partner with a local community-based vaccination clinic to hold an off-site employee vaccination day’ on a designated date/time(s).
You should consider the following vaccinators in their communities as potential vaccine provider partners for off-site clinics:
- Pharmacies
- Health care providers
- Local health departments
- Commercial vaccinators
- Community-based vaccination clinics
Non-Employer-Based Vaccination Options
An employer should consider sharing information with staff about vaccination options in the community rather than organize employer-based options if the organization has:
- A small or medium-sized workforce (without the ability to combine with other employers)
- A mobile worker population that frequently moves from one job site to the next.
- A workforce with highly variable schedules.
- An employer with a majority of workers who would prefer vaccination in a community clinic rather than an employer-run clinic.
Vaccine Finder
Employees can find a vaccine site and schedule an appointment
Call 1-844-684-1064 to answer vaccine questions and help with registration for those who do not have access to the internet or prefer to access information through non-digital communications.
How to Request and Plan an
Employer-Based Vaccination Clinic
Wisconsin employers who are considering hosting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in coordination with an approved vaccine provider should note the following considerations:
- Only vaccine providers enrolled in the Wisconsin COVID-19 Vaccine Program can administer COVID-19 vaccine.
- Vaccine providers will request vaccine for on or off-site clinics on behalf of the employer partnership through the DHS bi-weekly allocation survey for employer-based clinics.
- Vaccine providers can charge the employer for the staff time necessary to complete the clinic.
- Vaccine providers and employers cannot charge the employee for the vaccine or resources needed to become vaccinated, such as staff time and supplies.
- Clinic plans should be communicated with the local and tribal health department (LTHD) to ensure visibility of vaccination activities in their community.
- All communities are different. This option is not feasible in some communities.
Steps to prepare for and request an
employer-based clinic include:
- Survey your workforce to determine the number of employees who want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through an employer-based clinic. Some employees may have received their vaccine elsewhere, may not want to be vaccinated at a work-based clinic, or may not be interested in getting the vaccine at this point. Do not ask for any specific personal health information in your survey.
- Contact your LTHD to see if they can hold a clinic or help connect you to a local vaccinator.
Your LTHD may refer you to local health care providers or pharmacies. - If you are unable to identify a vaccine provider to partner with, fill out the employer-based clinic request survey and DHS will help you identify a vaccine provider.
- Inform your LTHD of your employer-based vaccination plans.
- Identify target date(s) for a first-dose vaccination clinic and second dose if applicable, allowing ample time for the vaccinator to request vaccine from DHS. o If the vaccination clinic is allocated a two-dose vaccine, plan to have three appropriately spaced clinic days, and if allocated a one-dose vaccine, plan to have two clinic days. The additional vaccination day supports individuals who are hesitant at the first clinic and want to “wait and see” what happens with colleagues, so they have an opportunity to come to the second clinic and have ample opportunity to get the full number of doses (i.e., if more than one dose is required). Multiple dates also allow for staggering staff in anticipation of some experiencing side effects and possibly being out after vaccination. Most employees will not miss work, but this scheduling technique helps ensure continuity of operations.
- Work with the vaccine provider: to identify what they need for a successful and efficient clinic, including ensuring they have the proper list of employees.
- Engage your human resources department. They can help guide you if you need to prioritize employees in the event there is not enough vaccine for all employees. Use current DHS guidance to help make these decisions.
- Ensure employees are informed about: Vaccine safety and effectiveness if employees are being paid for the time it takes to attend the clinic, paid leave to recover from side effects, any other modest tokens of appreciation) That they will not be billed or otherwise charged for getting vaccinated, their confidentiality and private health information will be protected, and participation is encouraged but ultimately voluntary.
- Inform your LTHD of your plans. Although Lathes are not usually the vaccine provider for employer-based clinics, a line of communication is strongly encouraged, so they are aware of vaccination activities in their communities.
Once you collect the information above, your vaccine provider can request vaccine from DHS. Vaccine providers may either submit a request for vaccine through the regular allocation survey, or through a separate employer-based clinic allocation process in which the intent is (if approved) to provide the entire amount of vaccine requested.
The Wisconsin COVID-19 Vaccine Program will review the vaccine provider’s employer-basedclinics’ allocation request separately. Requests will be reviewed and prioritized based upon a number of factors, including local vaccine administration rates and socio-economic, demographic, and geographic equity criteria.
Call 1-844-684-1064 for vaccine related questions
Additional Information and Resources for Employers
Employers with any vaccination questions can email
[email protected]
To stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccine information, eligibility, frequently asked questions,
and more please visit www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/vaccine.htm
To find which LTHD serves your community, visit
www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/lh-depts/counties.htm
Call 1-844-684-1064 for vaccine related questions.
For a general guide to employer-based vaccinations.
www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p02942.pdf
