Large Hampton Roads employers plan to comply with vaccine mandate, but some leaders worry about side effects

Several large Hampton Roads employers plan to comply with a new federal vaccine mandate, even though one company leader worries the executive action could have unintended side effects.

“At the end of the day, obviously, if it requires us to comply, then we will certainly do that as we normally do,” said G. Robert Aston Jr., executive board chairman for the Suffolk-based TowneBank, which employs hundreds of people in the region.

President Joe Biden escalated his administration’s actions to stop the spread of coronavirus Thursday, unveiling several new mandates. Employers with 100 or more workers must require employees to get vaccinated or face weekly testing for COVID-19, he said. The decision would affect about 80 million people, according to the White House.

The mandate is even stricter for defense contractors such as Newport News Shipbuilding, which employs more than 25,000 people. Biden is requiring federal contractors and employees of the executive branch to be vaccinated with no option for weekly tests as an alternative.

Mike Petters, president and CEO of shipyard owner Huntington Ingalls Industries, said in a Thursday letter to employees that company leaders were still assessing details of the mandate to determine “how we can help our unvaccinated employees meet this requirement as efficiently as possible.” He said the shipyard’s response would be driven by keeping employees safe and helping customers.

“At HII, doing the hard stuff means taking deliberate action to ensure the health and safety of the people around us,” Petters said.

Ferguson, a plumbing supplier headquartered in Newport News that employs 2,000 workers locally, will review and adjust protocols as necessary after examining the executive order, a company spokesperson said Friday. Before the federal mandate, company leaders encouraged, but did not require, vaccines for employees.

Stihl, which employs close to 2,000 people in Virginia Beach, also will adjust protocols to adhere to the latest federal regulations, said Andy Jaeckle, head of human resources.

The Biden administration plans to enforce the new mandate through an Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule, with each violation carrying a $14,000 fine.

With the federal government stepping in, company leaders who might have been hesitant to institute a vaccine mandate now have a huge tool in getting employees vaccinated, said Jeff Tanner, professor of marketing and dean at Old Dominion University’s Strome College of Business.

“Now they can put the blame on the government and say ‘Look, you (have to) do this or we’re going to get in trouble,'” Tanner said.

The dean likened the vaccination push to seat belt campaigns decades ago. Those campaigns urged passengers to police their fellow car-riders to wear seat belts. Police didn’t have the resources to stop every car, but hoped social pressure took care of what they couldn’t enforce. Employers, co-workers and family members can create similar social pressure in the case of vaccines, Tanner said.

Even though Aston supports vaccinations, he said he worried about side effects of the mandate. For example, it could be problematic if an employee in a key role or small department refused the vaccine and weekly tests. Some positions at TowneBank are specialized, and recruiting talent for them can be difficult.

“Losing a good person is always bad,” Aston said.

Vaccine bonuses include cash prizes and parking

Some large regional employers are dangling prizes, parking spaces and more to encourage workers to get vaccinated. Those incentives began before Biden’s announcement.

The shipyard, which has vaccinated about 54% of its workforce, will be raffling off three yearlong parking spaces in its Zone A lot beginning on Oct. 1. Additionally, fully vaccinated workers have a chance to win up to $7,500. The company is holding raffles starting at $7,500 on Oct. 15, and continuing weekly until Nov. 19 with the prize amount decreasing over time to $2,500.

Ferguson is offering a cash incentive of $75 to each vaccinated employee. The company said it’s also holding a raffle with larger prizes but declined to reveal details.

Tyson Foods, which operates on the Eastern Shore, said it will give $200 to each vaccinated employee and more than $6 million in sweepstakes prizes as incentives.

Even if companies have to comply with the federal mandates, incentives can still be a powerful tool for vaccinating workers and retaining talent, Tanner said.

“You have to put those incentives and penalties out there, but you also have to recognize that individuals are going to value them differently, and they’ve got different concerns,” Tanner added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com