THE Commonwealth Ports Authority board of directors on Friday approved a policy requiring all its members and CPA employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Compliance with this policy is now a condition of continued employment with CPA.
Employees who fail to comply with the requirements will be barred from entering the worksite and may be terminated if proof of vaccination is not provided to CPA within 30 days during which the employee will be placed on leave without pay.
The board members who approved the new policy were chairwoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds, vice chairman Roman T. Tudela, Pete P. Reyes, Thomas Villagomez, Barrie C. Toves and Joseph M. Diaz.
Board member Ray Tebuteb was excused from the meeting on Friday.
Prior to the roll-call vote, King-Hinds told her fellow board members, “We need to be in this together. We have to set an example.”
She added, “I’m sorry that it has come to the point when we are going to mandate this as a condition of employment, but it is what it is.”
As of Friday, it was learned that of the 210 CPA employees on Saipan, Tinian and Rota, only 67 or 25% had been vaccinated.
The new policy requires that CPA employees on Saipan receive their first dose by March 1, 2021 and the second dose by April 1, 2021.
On Rota and Tinian, CPA employees must receive their first dose by March 8, 2021 and the second dose by April 8, 2021.
Exemptions
The policy also allows for accommodations and exemptions.
For individuals with disabilities, CPA provides reasonable accommodation, which may include appropriate adjustment or modifications of policy. If an employee with disabilities believes that she or he needs an accommodation because of disability, s/he can request for reasonable accommodation from CPA’s human resource department.
The policy also allows for religious accommodation. If an employee believes s/he needs an accommodation because of his or her sincerely held religious belief, s/he can also request for reasonable accommodation.
CPA, moreover, will “engage in an interactive dialogue with employees to determine the precise limitations of their disability to comply with the policy and explore potential reasonable accommodations that could overcome those limitations. CPA encourages employees to suggest specific reasonable accommodations.”
However, CPA said, it is not required to make a specific accommodation, and “may provide an alternative effective accommodation, to the extent any reasonable accommodation can be made without imposing an undue hardship on CPA or posing a direct threat to employees or others in the workplace.”
CPA said, “Exemptions for other medical reasons may be available on a case-by-base basis for conditions, such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, history of certain allergic reasons, and any other medical condition that is a contraindication to the Covid-19 vaccine even if they do not qualify as disability under federal, state or local law.”
In an interview after the meeting, King-Hinds said the only way that CPA can safely open the borders is to ensure that all its employees are protected, “and the best way right now to get them protected is [to] ensure that everybody is vaccinated.”
She said the board understands it’s tough for the employees, but “these are not normal times and we have a responsibility to be part of ensuring that everybody is protected.”
