BOISE, Idaho — Micron announced Friday it is requiring all employees and contractors in the U.S. who work inside Micron buildings to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to a statement from Micron, any employee or contractor without an approved accommodation exemption for religion or disability who chooses not to get fully vaccinated by November 15, 2021, will no longer be allowed to work for the company. As vaccines become more available in Micron locations worldwide, company officials anticipate requiring vaccination where allowed by local law.
When the vaccine first became widely available in the United States, Micron provided employees with paid leave for up to two days per vaccine shot in case employees experienced side effects from the vaccine. The company offers COVID-19 testing and vaccinations for team members and contractors at the Boise headquarters for all community members, not just Micron employees or contractors.
Micron has locations in Colorado, California, Idaho, Minnesota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington. The company is one of Idaho's largest employers.
You can read the full statement from Micron about mandatory vaccines below:
“Micron has taken unprecedented steps throughout this pandemic to keep all our team members and contractors safe across the globe, whether working on-site or at home. For that reason, we have been strongly encouraging our team members to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available in their respective locations.
On Sept. 3, 2021, we will require all U.S. employees, plus all U.S. contractors who must work inside our buildings to conduct their jobs, to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Any U.S. employee (without an approved accommodation exemption for religion or disability) who chooses not to complete a full vaccine regimen by Nov. 15, 2021, will no longer be permitted to work for Micron following that date. Any U.S. contractor (without an approved accommodation for religion or disability) who chooses not to complete a full vaccine regimen by Nov. 15, 2021, will no longer be permitted to work inside a Micron building following that date. As vaccines become more readily available in other Micron locations worldwide, we anticipate requiring vaccination where allowed by local law.
Micron believes that vaccination is the single best defense against COVID-19. The rise of the Delta variant is a reminder that the longer COVID-19 is allowed to spread, the higher the likelihood that other, potentially more dangerous variants could emerge. In joining the growing number of major companies who’ve made the decision to require vaccines at their workplaces, we are making our communities safer for all.
We must address our global responsibility to do everything possible to end this pandemic as soon as we can. It is the right thing to do for our colleagues at Micron and our communities. For every COVID-19 vaccine dose our team members receive, up to 50,000 doses (a $250,000 donation), the Micron Foundation will donate a COVID-19 vaccine dose to UNICEF’s “Donate Doses” campaign.
Since the COVID-19 vaccine first became widely available in the U.S., Micron has provided all team members with paid leave for up to two days per vaccine shot in the event they experience any side effects from receiving the vaccine that would cause them to not be able to work effectively. We offer COVID-19 testing and vaccinations for team members and contractors at many of our global locations, and we have opened the clinic at our Boise headquarters for all community members (Micron-affiliated or not) to be vaccinated.
As a company, we have taken unprecedented steps throughout this pandemic to keep all our team members safe, whether working on-site or at home. On-site, we’ve worked to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 (and its variants) by mandating the wearing of masks, enforcing physical distancing and daily health declarations, conducting contact tracing and testing, increasing the frequency of our cleaning, and installing or modifying HVAC and ionization fans.
From the beginning of the pandemic, Micron has partnered with local health districts, complied with government-led public health mandates and maintained an open dialogue with our team members as new information became available. We are committed to furthering these efforts as we continue to fight COVID-19 – and protect our teams, our communities and our world – together.”
