Southwest Won’t Place Unvaccinated Employees on Unpaid Leave

In the face of a partial employee backlash, Southwest Airlines on Tuesday said it will not place unvaccinated workers who have requested a medical or religious exemption on unpaid leave starting in December.

“The employee will continue to work, while following all COVID mask and distancing guidelines applicable to their position, until the accommodation has been processed,” according to an internal note sent to employees and obtained by FOX Business.

The original deadline to be placed on leave was December 8, which is the same deadline set by the Biden Administration to have workers at all companies who hold federal contracts to be inoculated.

Southwest, like virtually all U.S. airlines, has contracts with the federal government. It announced earlier this month it would comply with the Biden order, but as recently as Monday, October 18, the carrier faced a physical protest outside its Dallas headquarters.

Protestors held signs that read “Terminate the Mandate” and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – part of the administration of Gov. Greg Abbott, who banned companies in the state of Texas from instituting vaccine mandates – supported the crowd.

“I’m here to stand with these people who may be losing their jobs because they don’t want to take a vaccine,” Paxton said to the protestors. “I’m here to say ‘Hey, this is not the right way to go. It’s not the right way for our state, it’s not the right way for these airlines.’”

Southwest has 54,000 employees. The airline said it is still considering each vaccine exemption request on a case-by-case basis. Fox Business reported that Southwest “will provide adequate time for an employee to become fully vaccinated while continuing to work and adhering to safety protocols.”