In the current pandemic environment, employers are searching for increasingly creative ways to incentivize COVID-19 vaccination among their employees. “Vaccine sweepstakes,” by which employers offer cash or other prizes (often substantial) to winning employees who are randomly selected from a pool of vaccinated entrants, are gaining popularity across all industries. Indeed, the popularity of such sweepstakes may increase further after the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked a nationwide vaccination-or-testing mandate for large employers.
To date, no official guidance has been issued on sweepstakes as a vaccine incentive tool. However, by observing the existing guidance on traditional vaccine incentives and certain other best practices, employers can run fair (and fun!) vaccine sweepstakes programs aimed at increasing workforce vaccination and boosting company morale.
On 28 May 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidance, previously addressed here, stating that employers may offer incentives to employees for voluntarily disclosing that they have been vaccinated. The permissible size of the incentive is dependent on whether the employer is administering the vaccine or is encouraging vaccination by an unaffiliated third-party provider. In the latter scenario, where vaccination is to be administered by an employee’s personal physician or pharmacy, or a state-run vaccination center, employers may offer unlimited...
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