Massachusetts offers to rehire some state employees fired under COVID-19 vaccine requirement

Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration confirmed Tuesday that it is inviting a “small number” of ex-state employees who lost their jobs for noncompliance with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate to return to work. Officials later clarified that approximately 50 people are eligible across multiple state agencies. Baker imposed the mandate through an executive order, which applied to 41,629 Executive Department employees in October of 2021. The mandate survived legal challenges filed by some unions.In December, the administration reported that 97.1% of the affected employees complied with the mandate or received exemptions. At the time, more than one-third of those who applied for medical exemptions had one approved but only about 6% of religious exemption applications were granted. In total, 988 people left the state workforce as a result of the mandate. That included 332 voluntary resignations and 656 who lost their jobs involuntarily. Baker said the policy was successful in boosting the vaccination rate among the state workforce and that the process for dealing with those who sought exemptions has been ongoing. Earlier this month, the state sent letters offering some of the ousted employees a chance to return. “There are a small number of people who the commonwealth wants to talk to because we think we might have an alternative for them,” Baker said. A further statement from a spokesperson said they do not expect to make this offer again. “The Administration has recently been able to accommodate a small number of positions who previously were not accommodated under the vaccine requirement. These employees have been offered back their positions, and the administration does not anticipate more letters going out for additional positions,” said the statement from deputy communications director Anisha Chakrabarti.According to copies of one offer letter reviewed by NewsCenter 5, the offers were effective immediately and unconditional. The offer we saw was open for acceptance through the end of the month. The State Police Association of Massachusetts, which unsuccessfully challenged the mandate in court, said that none of its members who resigned or lost their jobs received such letters from the administration. SPAM President Patrick McNamara seven members are suspended without pay and approximately 13 were terminated because of the policy. McNamara argues the state should rescind the executive order. “We have an opportunity to bring back really good troopers, bring them back to work, they’re seasoned investigators. We are at a critically low staffing level for our agency,” he said.Republican candidate for governor, Geoff Diehl, said during the last debate that he would reinstate everyone who lost their job over the vaccine mandate if he wins the upcoming election. He reiterated that proposal Tuesday.”I’m glad to see that Gov. Baker has decided to change his mind, but I don’t think it should be a small number of people. Everbody should be returned to their job if they were forced out of it because of the vaccine mandate,” said Diehl.His opponent, Democrat Maura Healey, did not provide a response prior to the time of publication of this article. She also did not respond directly to Diehl’s proposal during the debate but emphasized the importance of filling open state jobs. “There are a lot of open jobs, particularly within DOT. We need to make sure that they’re filled,” she said.