SAN ANTONIO — The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) has launched a hotline for employees to report companies that impose vaccine mandates without considering eligibility of medical or religious exemptions.
The TWC letter cites Gov. Greg Abbott’s Oct. 11 executive order that prohibits any entity from compelling “receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine by any individual, including an employee or a consumer, who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”
The letter states any employee subjected to a vaccine mandate in violation of the executive order (GA-40) can notify the TWC at (800) 939-6631 or emailing vaccine_job_loss@twc.texas.gov.
Verified tips who’ve been impacted by employer mandates could result in prosecution, according to the letter.
Lovelia Deuley, manager of Alamo Antique Mall, expressed her support for vaccine mandates, including the big businesses federal mandate that the U.S. Senate overturned and has been challenged in court.
The business she works for doesn’t mandate the small number of employees to receive or provide proof of the coronavirus shot.
Deuley stressed she’s not a fan of the political divide surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
“People, stop using this in the political terms. Let’s think about health, let’s think about saving lives,” Deuley said.
She often hears stories from customers on how family and friends have been impacted by the coronavirus.
“A day doesn’t go by that somebody doesn’t tell me a story of someone that died,” Deuley said. “Just yesterday I had a customer, his brother died, and his nephew is really sick.”
A TWC spokesman noted the hotline’s goal is to assist employees subjected to a vaccine mandate in violation of the executive order that results in job loss. Texas employees can contact TWC with their unemployment claims.
The spokesman also noted TWC cannot speculate on what actions may be taken in response to a complaint since each case filed is different.
It’s unknown how many people have used the hotline since it launched Dec. 8.
Click here to read the full letter addressed by TWC.