Vaccinations
To: All U.S.-based campus associates
From: Doug McMillon, President and CEO – Walmart
As Dr. Cheryl Pegus and Donna Morris recently shared, we are taking additional steps to continue prioritizing the health and safety of our associates. As a follow-up to their note, I want to share some more information.
As we all know, the pandemic is not over, and the Delta variant has led to an increase in infection rates across much of the U.S. Given this, we have made the decision to require all market, regional and divisional associates who work in multiple facilities and all campus office associates to be vaccinated by Oct. 4, unless they have an approved exception. This includes all new hires.
Because some of the vaccines require multiple doses with a period of time in between, and it takes two weeks after the final dose to be considered fully vaccinated, we recommend you begin the process soon. There will be more information to come on the vaccination requirement and the steps to verify vaccinations. We realize there is a small percentage of our associates who cannot get vaccinated due to medical issues or religious reasons, and we have policies and a process to address those situations.
Our offices remain open with safety measures in place, and we will continue with our phased approach and only allow limited capacity for now. We want to get to a place where we can use our offices and be together safely. It’s important for our business, our culture, our speed and our innovation. As you know, we have been gradually coming back into our office spaces with the idea of being closer to pre-pandemic levels after Labor Day. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and determine later if that timeline needs to be adjusted.
As we embrace future ways of working, we will focus on providing a healthy amount of flexibility to aid productivity as well as to retain and attract great associates like you. We will identify new ways of working together on the other side of this virus, but we have to fight the virus, all of us, to get there.
Throughout the pandemic we have focused on the health and well-being of our associates. We believe we have an important role to play and believe the requirement for vaccinations for our leaders is key to driving toward an end to this pandemic. Let’s set the example.
As we’ve said previously, business travel to stores, clubs, distribution centers and fulfillment centers is allowed. However, travel should be limited to business-critical trips only. Please continue to look for ways to participate in supplier meetings and conferences virtually.
Thank you for all you’re doing to serve our customers and associates, and please take care of yourself, your family, friends and fellow associates by prioritizing your health and well-being.
