While President Joe Biden's executive order to mandate vaccines would affect many businesses in Butler County, employers are taking a wait-and-see approach at this point.

In a speech on Thursday, Biden said the U.S. Department of Labor is developing an emergency rule that would require all employers of more than 100 workers to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated, or show a negative test at least once per week.

Ken DeFurio, CEO of the county's second-largest employer, Butler Health System, said the health system has experienced significant strain from individuals being admitted with COVID-19, and that the situation directly affects BHS services.

“BHS supports vaccinations for all who are eligible,” DeFurio said. “BHS awaits direction regarding the federal mandate. It will comply with directives for the health system and hospital workers.”

DeFurio said as BHS has done since the beginning of the pandemic, the health system stands ready to partner with and support businesses and employers as they meet requirements in getting their employees vaccinated.

The health system employs about 3,000 workers.

Watch closely

Cody Jones, chief strategic relations officer for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), in speaking for Slippery Rock University, said his organization will watch closely as the mandate plays out in the days ahead.

“We are reviewing the mandates, and will continue to do so to ascertain if, how and when they may apply to our institutions,” Jones said.

At 950 employees, Slippery Rock University is the sixth largest employer in the county.

School districts and the county government center also are large employers in the county.

Brian White, Butler Area School District superintendent, said the district employs about 1,000 workers and contractors.

“We're still waiting for details, because we're not sure if the mandate covers only private companies or government agencies, too,” White said.

He said, typically, a vaccine mandate would come from Harrisburg and not individual school districts.

“So, we don't know yet how this will apply to us, but it has created a lot of conversation,” White said.

Because it is health care-related, White does not know the percentage of district employees who are vaccinated.

White said a coordinated effort to vaccinate teachers and other employees occurred last year.

He will wait to see how Biden's vaccine mandate plays out.

“There seem to be a lot of statements, but also a lot of missing details on how it could impact us,” White said.

600 county employees

Coming in at No. 10 in the list of the county's largest employers is the county government center, where about 600 people work to keep the county running smoothly.

Leslie Osche, county commissioners chairwoman, said she was on a call with Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday morning and learned that no one has defined whether the proposed mandate would apply to county government.

Osche said she is opposed to a vaccine mandate, largely because many businesses are finding ways to get their employees vaccinated.

“I believe that if you watch, the business community is doing it anyway,” Osche said.

She pointed to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., whose CEO, Lourenco Goncalves, offered workers $1,500 if they got the vaccine and $3,000 if their location's vaccination rate was 75% or higher.

Osche said many people over the past 18 months who have been personally affected by the virus, whether from the illness of a family member, financial impact on their family or other instance, often decide to get the vaccine although they hadn't planned to.

“People realize that 'If I don't make a move, it's going to affect my life directly in some way,'” Osche said.

Paid time off

Regarding county employees, Osche said those who were ill with COVID-19 or quarantining received two weeks of paid time off.

Now, with vaccines readily available, those who are unvaccinated must use their own vacation and sick time if they become ill or quarantined because of COVID-19.

“If you're vaccinated, we will still honor that (paid two weeks off),” Osche said.

She regrets that a mandate is being considered when a tool is available to prevent serious illness or death from COVID-19.

“It's terribly frustrating that we just can't use common sense across the board,” Osche said.

She said the county employees and the county at large have about the same vaccination rate, which is listed as about 57% with at least one dose.

“Our employees need to be healthy to come to work and serve the public,” Osche said.