Philly Cops Not Vaccinated Or Exempt By May 31 To Be Put On Leave

PHILADELPHIA — With nearly all Philadelphia Police officers either vaccinated or exempted on religious or medical grounds, an arbitration panel said remaining officers have until May 31 to comply or be placed on leave.

The final decision by the panel overseeing the city's workforce coronavirus vaccination mandate gives police officers not vaccinated and not exempted until the end of May to either start their vaccination panel or submit an exemption request.

Officers who do not meet these requirements will be placed on a 30-day "Unvaccinated Leave" Monday, June 6. Employees on this leave must use accumulated paid vacation, holiday and compensatory time and will be unpaid if they do not have sufficient time of paid leave available.

Those who do not come into compliance by becoming vaccinated or submitting an approved exemption request by the end of the leave could face termination, according to the city.

If they are fired for failure to meet the vaccination requirements, those employees are entitled to reinstatement for one year following the date of their separation, subject to their meeting all qualifications of the position, including any vaccination requirement, provided that the Police Department has budgeted vacancies in the position to which they seek reinstatement, the city said.

As part of the panel's decision, employees who are not fully vaccinated by Tuesday, May 31, regardless of reason, are required to follow additional precautions, including double-masking or wearing a N95 or equivalent and submitting to routine COVID-19 testing, according to the city.

Any employee whose exemption request is denied has 10 calendar days to submit an appeal. If the appeal is denied, they must receive a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within 14 calendar days and complete their vaccination series in a timely manner or be considered out of compliance with the mandate.

Employees who receive a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Tuesday, May 31 must complete their vaccination series within 14 days of the schedule prescribed for the vaccine they received.

According to the city, the panel found about 97 percent of the sworn members of the Police Department have either been fully vaccinated, received at least a first vaccination shot, or had a request for a medical or religious exemption approved.

Of the remaining officers, nearly all have submitted medical or religious exemption requests that are still being reviewed.

Only a handful of active-duty officers remain out of compliance with the City’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate policy as of April 13.