COVINGTON, Ga. — Vaccinated city employees will be awarded additional sick time, should they contract COVID-19.

In a special-called meeting Tuesday afternoon, members of the city council voted 3-1 to approve the creation of a COVID-19 Emergency Sick Leave policy. Councilman Anthony Henderson was opposed. Council members Kenneth Morgan and Fleeta Baggett were not present for the vote.

The council also heard a proposal for a vaccine incentive that would reward employees with up to $500 to get vaccinated.

City Manager Scott Andrews assured the mayor and council that the policies proposed were not a mandate, and no employee was to feel pressured into getting the vaccine. The policies were only a way to incentivize those who chose to receive the vaccine.

“This is a way to reward those who are prioritizing their health,” Andrews said. “The healthier we can be, the better.”

The main purpose for creating the emergency sick leave policy, as stated in the proposal, was to ensure “staff are not incentivized to return to work before they are healthy, that staff members are encouraged to get vaccines to avoid paying for leave themselves, and that our team members have the time needed to recover from the virus.”

Under the sick leave policy, a vaccinated city employee would receive additional sick time from the city government to cover the isolation period of five days, as recommended by the CDC. Upon return, the employee would be required to wear a mask for the next five days. To qualify for the additional sick time, proof of vaccination would be required, the policy states.

Unvaccinated employees would be eligible for the additional sick time and would be required to use only time they’ve accrued over the duration of their employment.

When the pandemic first began, sick time taken for COVID-19 was covered with aid from the federal government; however, those policies are no longer in place. Currently, anyone who contracts or is exposed to the virus is required to use their personal sick leave time, as needed.

During discussion of the proposed policy, Henderson said he did not think it was fair to offer sick time for vaccinated employees but not unvaccinated employees, considering both could potentially contract the virus. 

Henderson also thought it was unfair because some people may not choose to receive the vaccine due to existing health conditions or religious beliefs, and if employees were to get sick, it wasn’t anything they could control.

A motion was then made to create a policy to provide extra sick leave for both vaccinated and unvaccinated employees, should they contract COVID-19. The measure passed 3-2; council members Don Floyd and Susie Keck opposed, but Mayor Steve Horton broke the tie by voting in favor of the motion.

After a brief recess, Horton asked for a motion to revisit the previous item because there was confusion as to what had been added to the policy. He said it was his understanding that the vote was to approve a policy that would provide leave time for vaccinated employees only.

So, for clarity, Horton asked for another motion, this time to create a policy that would provide extra sick leave to vaccinated employees, as the original proposal stated. The motion was then passed 3-1; Henderson opposed.

After the meeting, City Attorney Frank Turner Jr. told The Covington News he was confident the city was protected legally in the event an unvaccinated city employee were to claim discrimination or say the program was a way to pressure employees to get the vaccine.

“I believe the city would successfully defend any challenge to the program on [those] grounds,” Turner said. “Reducing spread of COVID-19 among the city’s workforce is a legitimate governmental objective. Incentivizing unvaccinated employees to get vaccinated, through the offer of additional sick leave, is rationally related to accomplishing that objective.” 

Before creation of the sick leave policy, the council also heard a proposal to offer a vaccine incentive that would provide up to $500 to employees who were fully vaccinated.

Per the proposed policy, employees would receive $150 per initial dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and then another $200 for the booster.

Employees would received $200 for the initial dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and then another $300 for the booster.

Keck said she could not get on board with the idea of paying “people to do the right thing.”

“In a lot of companies, if you smoke, you pay more for your insurance,” she said. “If you choose not to get the vaccine, I think you should pay more for your insurance. I don’t feel like my tax dollars, and most of my constituents, should be paid to people to do the right thing.

“I have a real issue with this,” Keck continued. “And then what are you going to do when they come out next week and say we need another booster? Is the city going to keep paying? … Looking at paying $159,000 for 75 people to get a vaccine — I can’t do it.” 

Currently there are more than 300 city employees. Per Andrews’ estimation, about 20-30 employees were “on the fence” in regard to receiving the vaccine. He said the staff’s collective vaccination rate was at about 50%.

At the time, Henderson said he didn’t know how he felt about offering money to encourage vaccinations. 

After discussion, the council moved to only create the sick leave policy and took no action on the vaccine incentive.