'No jab, no job': Citigroup to fire unvaccinated employees under new policy

The United States bank declared its intention to enforce stricter vaccination regulations in October, and it is now the first big Wall Street firm to implement a stringent vaccine mandate.

Citigroup Inc employees in the United States who have not had COVID-19 vaccinations by January 14 will be placed on unpaid leave and sacked at the end of the month, according to a corporate document seen by Reuters. The U.S. bank declared its intention to enforce stricter vaccination regulations in October, and it is now the first big Wall Street firm to implement a stringent vaccine mandate. Its decision comes at a time when the financial industry is grappling with how to safely return staff to offices and restart normal operations in the face of the dangerous Omicron coronavirus type spreading like wildfire.

Other large Wall Street firms, like Goldman Sachs & Co, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase & Co, have advised certain unvaccinated workers to work from home, although none have gone so far as to fire people. While Citigroup is the first Wall Street bank to impose a vaccination mandate, several other prominent U.S. corporations, like Google and United Airlines, have implemented "no-jab, no-job" rules with varying degrees of rigour.

According to a person acquainted with the subject, more than 90 per cent of Citigroup employees have cooperated with the obligation thus far, and that percentage is fast climbing, with the timing of the vaccine mandate differing for branch staff. When it announced its policy, Citigroup also stated that it would evaluate religious or medical exemptions and any other accommodation provided by state or municipal law on a case-by-case basis.

The bank stated at the time that it was following U.S. President Joe Biden's administration's policy of requiring all staff supporting government contracts to be fully vaccinated since the government was a "big and significant" client. "You are allowed to apply for additional opportunities at Citi in the future as long as you follow Citi's immunization policy," the bank stated in the memo.