Sources: Cleveland Guardians issue vaccine mandate for team employees

The Cleveland Guardians have become the latest MLB team to issue a vaccine mandate for their employees.

In an email sent approximately a month ago, the Cleveland Guardians informed team employees that they will have their contracts terminated if they are not fully vaccinated by Jan. 3, 2022, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The Guardians have sent multiple reminders since the initial email, with the most recent being Tuesday.  The mandate is a Cleveland-based policy for office employees, which the Guardians would be categorized as.

In an email obtained by FanSided, the Guardians said:

“The Policy requires that all Executive Office and Service Level Employees or ‘Covered Employees’ who are not subject to any exemption be fully vaccinated by January 3, 2022.

• To be fully vaccinated, two-weeks must have passed after receiving either the second shot in a two-shot vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) or the only shot of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson Vaccine.
• That means that – absent any exemption – all Executive Office and Service Level employees must receive either their second Moderna/Pfizer shot, or single Johnson and Johnson shot by December 20, 2021. Remember: there is an approximately three-week (Pfizer) or four-week
• (Moderna) gap between the first and second doses of the two-dose vaccines, so meeting these deadlines will require advanced planning. Failure to comply with this Policy will result in termination.”

The Guardians declined comment.

In November, the Biden administration set Jan. 4 as the deadline for large companies to start weekly testing workers or mandate coronavirus vaccines, according to the New York Times. The new rule, which applied to companies with 100 or more employees, was expected to cover 84 million workers.

The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals were the first two MLB teams to issue vaccine mandates for their employees, back in late August. There is also a vaccine mandate in place for all minor league players and MLB issued a mandate for all non-playing personnel during the MLB postseason.

It’s important to note that the Guardians’ mandate does not cover players. Any mandate covering major league players would have to go through the MLBPA. However, with new CBA negotiations looming it’s possible that this could be an issue that owners press on.