Real estate giant Related Cos. to require all employees to get vaccinated
Firm told its 4,000 employees Monday if they haven't been vaccinated they will be required to get at least one shot by Aug. 31 or be fired
Related Companies is the latest New York-based real estate giant to crack down on employees who are not vaccinated.
The Manhattan-based firm — whose marquee properties include Midtown Manhattan’s Hudson Yards — told its 4,000 employees Monday that if they have not already been vaccinated they will be required to get at least one jab by Aug. 31 — or be fired.
Some 1,000 employees who work in the company’s corporate offices across the country — including at its headquarters at Hudson Yards, as well as in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities — were required as of June 1 to be vaccinated.
The policy now applies to Related’s service workers, including doormen, cleaners and engineers, or about 3,000 employees who work in the company’s commercial and residential buildings, according to a company memo that was shared with The Post.
Headed up by real estate mogul Stephen Ross, Related’s also policy applies to its unionized employees, spokesman John Weinstein said.
Related Companies is the latest New York-based real estate giant to crack down on employees who are not vaccinated. Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
"Being vaccinated will be a requirement to work at Related," the memo states. "There are exemptions from this policy for bona fide medical or religious reasons only. [Human resources] will review all requests for exemptions and those with exemptions granted will be required to undergo regular PCR testing."
The policy will also apply to the company’s employees at Manhattan’s Deutsche Bank Center — formerly the Time Warner Center — where Related operates the Shops at Columbus Circle.
Last week, the Durst Organization required its corporate employees to be vaccinated as a condition of their employment with the real estate firm while saying its union employees will be exempt from the policy for the time being.
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Companies across the country, including national chains like Target and Walmart are implementing new policies in response to the Delta variant, which has caused infection and hospitalization rates to tick up. Disney is requiring all salaried employees to be vaccinated and all new employees, the company said on Monday.
Target said on Monday that store employees in "high risk" counties will be required to wear masks, following an identical announcement by Walmart on Friday, in which the largest retailer said all store managers will be required to be vaccinated by early October.