City of Chicago Employee Vaccination Policy
City of Chicago employees must, as a condition of employment, be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 effective October 15, 2021. This Policy applies to all City employees, personnel of contractors, and vendors who have regular direct contact with, or regularly work close to, City employees and volunteers. It does not apply to visitors.
What this policy means for employees
Employees, contractors, and vendors will need to be fully vaccinated by October 15, 2021 or undergo regular COVID-19 testing as a condition of employment.
“Fully vaccinated” means two weeks past the second dose of a two-dose mRNA vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna) or two weeks past a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Those who are not fully vaccinated will be required to undergo COVID-19 on a twice weekly basis with tests separated by three to four days. Employees will be responsible for obtaining tests on their own and reporting those results to the City. More information on testing can be found below.
Employees, contractors, and vendors can apply for a medical or religious exemption to be exempt from the requirement to be fully vaccinated. Those requests will be reviewed by the Department of Human Resources on a case-by-case basis. Those who receive an exemption will be required to undergo regular COVID-19 testing.
If you are applying for a medical or religious exemption, you can email your completed form to vaccineexemptions@cityofchicago.org or you can provide the completed form to your HR Liaison and they will forward the form to the City of Chicago’s Department of Human Resources (DHR).
If you have additional questions regarding this policy, please contact your department’s HR Liaison.
Submitting your vaccination records
You can safely and securely submit your vaccination records via the City of Chicago Employee Vaccination Portal. The portal is compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements for keeping data secure.
In order to submit your vaccination information, you will need to provide information about the type of vaccine that you received. You will also need to upload either a scanned copy or photograph of your vaccination card. If you have lost your vaccination card, you can request a copy of your vaccination record HERE.
Employees will also need to provide their Employee ID # when submitting their information. You can find your Employee ID # on your paycheck stub. Contractors and vendors are able to submit their information without an employee ID.
Submitting your testing records
Employees, contractors, and vendors who are not fully vaccinated by October 15, 2021 will need to undergo COVID-19 testing on a twice-weekly basis. This requirement will take effect October 16, 2021.
Employees, contractors, and vendors are responsible for obtaining tests on their own time and at no cost to the City and reporting those results via the City of Chicago Employee Testing Record Portal. Tests must be separated by three-to-four days.
Note, the testing option will sunset on December 31, 2021. Thereafter, employees, volunteers, and contractors covered by this policy must be fully vaccinated as a condition of employment unless they have an approved exemption.
The City of Chicago is responsible for providing a workplace that is free of recognized hazards and has adopted this policy to safeguard the health and well-being of all our employees, as well as city residents who spend time in municipal facilities or interact with employees as they receive City services. It complies with local, state and federal laws.
Data shows that being fully vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself from serious illness, hospitalization, or death from COVID-19. As we see a resurgence of the disease via new and more transmissible variants, the City of Chicago is obligated to put these necessary measures in place to ensure the safety and health of all our employees contractors, and vendors.
The policy applies to all City employees, regardless of union membership status. The policy also applies to volunteers and contractors who have regular direct contact with or regularly work in close proximity to City employees. The policy does not apply to visitors.
Talk to your project coordinator or supervisor at the City.
The City has established a City of Chicago Employee Vaccination Portal where you will be able to securely submit the information about your vaccination status, including your vaccination card or other proof of vaccination.
You will be able to upload a copy or a picture of your vaccination card, or copy of your vaccination record provided by the state where you were vaccinated.
If you have lost your vaccination card and want to request your vaccination records, please complete our online form at https://redcap.link/izrequestform.
The City of Chicago Employee Vaccination Portal is compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements for keeping data secure. The information and documentation you provide will only be accessible by the Department of Human Resources.
COVID vaccinations are readily available at your local pharmacy, healthcare provider or at a number of special events throughout the city. Learn more at Chicago.gov/COVIDvax.
City employees will receive up to two hours of paid time off for each required dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Employees who are unable to work due to side effects of the vaccine can use their own benefit time to cover an absence from work.
For now, “fully vaccinated” means two weeks past the second dose of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer and Moderna) or two weeks past the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. However, the City may modify this policy in the future to adapt to changing circumstances, consistent with its commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace.
Any one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines will be accepted to fill the requirement.
No. This policy only applies to City of Chicago employees, volunteers, contractors and vendors who work alongside City employees in our facilities, not their family members.
Employees contractors, and vendors who are not in compliance with the policy, which includes but is not limited to, failure to comply with the vaccination mandate or the requirement to undergo COVID-19 testing, providing false or misleading information about vaccination status, providing false information about test results, or providing false information about the need for an accommodation, may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Supervisors and managers will not be responsible for collecting documentation or information from employees. However, supervisors and managers may assist with ensuring compliance with the policy by reminding employees to provide their information via the Portal.
DHR will review vaccination status, and then work with individual City departments to connect with employees who are not in compliance. Those departments will be authorized to take appropriate action, up to and including discharge.
October 15, 2021 at 11:59 P.M. is the deadline for city employees.
Yes, all City employees are expected to continue working until told otherwise by your manager or supervisor.
Employees who are fully vaccinated by October 15th and have reported their status will receive one additional Personal Day that must be used by June 30, 2022. The Personal Day is not subject to vacation carryover rules and may not be paid out upon leaving employment.
Yes. Employees, contractors, and vendors who are not vaccinated by October 15, 2021, including those who receive an approved exemption, must undergo COVID-19 testing on a twice weekly basis with tests separated by 3-4 days. Employees will be responsible for obtaining tests ono their own time and reporting those test results. This testing option is only through December 31, 2021. Thereafter, employees must be fully vaccinated as a condition of employment unless they have received an approved medical or religious exemption.
Please visit https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/covid-19/home/covid-testing.html for information about COVID-19 testing, including information on testing sites across the city
Yes, but you will need to provide documentation (e.g., a photo) of the home test results that show the unique bar code of the test that you took, along with your name and the date you took the test written on the test card next to the unique bar code.
Employees, contractors, and vendors who are not vaccinated will need to start reporting their testing results beginning October 16, 2021. A link to the portal where those results can be reported and information about how to report that information will be provided closer to that date.
Employees, contractors, and vendors with medical conditions that affect their ability to receive a vaccine, as verified by their medical provider, or those employees with sincerely held religious beliefs that prohibit them from receiving a vaccine, may request a reasonable accommodation in the form of an exemption from the vaccine requirement. All accommodations will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Completed requests for vaccine exemptions, both medical and religious, should be emailed to the DHR at vaccineexemptions@cityofchicago.org. Employees may also provide a copy of their request to their departmental Human Resources Liaison, who will forward the request to DHR.
No, the Department of Human Resources will review each request received via the inbox (vaccineexemptions@cityofchicago.org) on a case-by-case basis in the order they are received.
Each request will be evaluated in the order they are received. Because this is an interactive process, additional information may be needed from you or from your department.
DHR will notify employees, contractors, and vendors when their requests have been approved or denied as soon as that decision has been made.
Yes. Any employee, contractor, and vendor who is not fully vaccinated by October 15, 2021, will need to undergo COVID-19 testing on a twice weekly basis with tests separated by three-to-four days.
You must follow the health safety precautions that are already in place. If additional safety measures are required, you will be notified.
You will be considered out of compliance with the policy. It is important that you submit your request and all the relevant information as soon as possible so that DHR can evaluate your request in a timely manner.
No. You will not need to upload that document to the portal. But you will need to indicate in your answers that you have been granted an exemption.
Information about accommodations or exemptions will only be shared on a need-to-know basis in accordance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related privacy laws.
If you believe that you are being retaliated against for making a request for an exemption or because you received an exemption, you can report that to the EEO Division in DHR by calling (312) 744-4224 (EEO Hotline) or emailing EEOdiversity@cityofchicago.org.
If your request for an accommodation or exemption is denied, you will be notified of that as soon as the decision has been made. You will need to consult with your department’s HR Liaison about other options if your request is denied.
There is no appeal process. DHR conducts an interactive communication process with each employee and considers the facts and circumstances of each exemption request. All decisions made by DHR arising out of the interactive process are final and not subject to review.