City of Greenwood employees will have two options moving forward: show proof of vaccination or mask up.
The three-member Board of Public Works and Safety unanimously approved the temporary policy Monday night. The rule, which took effect immediately, asks all city employees, both full-time and part-time, to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status to the city’s Human Resources Department.
The policy says employees can present their COVID-19 vaccination card to HR, which will then notify the employee’s supervisor that they do not have to wear a mask in city buildings, according to city documents.
City employees who choose not to submit proof of their vaccination status will be required to wear a mask, except when they are eating or drinking. Those who qualify for an exemption as defined under Gov. Eric Holcomb’s coronavirus pandemic-related orders are not required, but are strongly encouraged to wear a face covering or face shield, city documents said.
In July, a new state law went into effect that prohibited local governments from issuing and requiring COVID-19 vaccine passports. Greenwood is not requiring an immunization passport for city employees, assistant city attorney Kelsey Guthrie Sannella said.
Employees can present proof of immunization to the city, but they are not required to do so, Sannella said.
If an employee refuses to abide by the temporary policy, they could be fired. They are required to sign a document acknowledging that they have received the policy, according to city documents.
The policy was created in conjunction with the city’s planning department and received a recommendation from the mayor’s office, city documents said.
Requiring employees to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status or wear a mask was needed to ensure the health and safety of city employees. Mandating proof of vaccination is not the same thing as mandating the vaccine, Mayor Mark Myers said.
“We’re not mandating vaccinations. We just want to protect those who have already been vaccinated or may not have been,” Myers said.
The city will reevaluate the policy if the number of newly reported COVID-19 cases in Johnson County begins to dip, and the county moves to the blue advisory level on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, he said.
Johnson County this week is in the orange for COVID-19 cases, the second highest level, based on metrics that combine the seven-day positivity rate for all tests and the weekly cases per 100,000 residents.
Greenwood is the only city in the county so far to enact such a policy.
