A group of Fiserv, Inc. employees is accusing the company of being dishonest with them about its plans for and implementation of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The employees, who spoke to “The Dan O’Donnell Show” on condition of anonymity because they fear reprisal for speaking out, claim Fiserv misled workers by first telling them that vaccines would only be necessary for those who wished to stop working remotely and return to an office setting. Then, they claim, Fiserv abruptly changed course and made a return to the office mandatory.
“They tried to claim they didn’t have a vaccine mandate, but they did,” said one employee. “They made it seem like you didn’t have to be vaccinated if you were just going to keep working from home but then they forced everyone to stop working from home.”
Fiserv announced a company-wide vaccine mandate for all employees last week, with compliance mandatory by December 8th.
In an email sent to all employees on August 23rd, however, Fiserv indicated that vaccines were only to be “recommended” and that employees should indicate by August 27th whether they intended to be vaccinated.
“All U.S. associates must either provide proof of your COVID-19 vaccination OR indicate that you cannot or choose not to be vaccinated at this time” the company instructed. “This information will inform our return to office and social distancing plans.”
Employees who indicated that they would not be vaccinated were further asked to “please make sure your manager is aware that you are not able to return to the office at this time.”
“Only those who have been vaccinated were cleared to return to the office, but the question remained unanswered: what was to happen to those who were not or could not be vaccinated?” explained one employee. “Managers started calling those vaccinated associates letting them know that they were expected to return to the office. No exceptions, if you were in the office in March of 2020, then you were expected to return to the office, period.”
“Associates in the Cannot or Chose not to be Vaccinated group were not welcomed back to the office,” another employee added. “Associates started to be told that they would be expected to report to the office if they lived within 25 miles, and since you needed to be vaccinated to be allowed in the office, it amounted to a vaccine mandate even though they said there would be no ‘one size-fits-all’ mandate.”
Indeed, in the August 23rd email, Fiserv said that “in beginning our Great Return, we have not implemented a one size-fits-all approach to our plans” and that “Fiserv has always provided associates with the flexibility and support they need to manage work and personal commitments on a daily basis and we will continue to do so.
“As we continue to monitor the situation surrounding COVID-19, we encourage you to proactively discuss your personal situation with your manager,” the email concluded.
Employees say this information was used against them as Fiserv suddenly required vaccines following President Biden’s September 9th announcement of a forthcoming federal mandate. The employees said they understood Fiserv’s desire to comply with this, but question why the company wasn’t honest with them; especially as it moved to eliminate remote work altogether.
“Remote employees are now being told that remote is no longer an option for their jobs,” one employee said. “This is coming after a number of people were told to work from home after we closed the office building next to our corporate headquarters in Brookfield. In fact, people who have been working from home for over 10 years are being told they will now need to start reporting to an office.”
A spokeswoman for Fiserv maintains the company was not at all dishonest with its employees.
"At Fiserv, we serve and support the organizations that drive our communities and we have a responsibility to ensure that we are taking all possible steps to minimize the spread of COVID-19," she said. "Fiserv also provides services to the federal government, so we must comply with the executive order from President Biden requiring COVID-19 vaccines for government contractors. Requiring that all U.S. Fiserv associates are vaccinated enables us to meet our commitments to the various government agencies that rely on us, and aligns with the health and safety measures we have taken to keep our associates, clients and communities healthy and safe."