Google to stop salaries and eventually fire unvaccinated employees

Google has told its employees that they will lose their salaries and eventually be fired if they fail to fully vaccinate themselves and follow Covid-19 rules as mandated by the US administration.

Google gave its employees time till December 3 to upload proof of vaccination or receive approval for a medical or religious exemption.

According to an internal memo obtained by CNBC, anyone who doesn't do either of those things by January 13 will be placed on a 30-day paid administrative leave.

"If they're still not in compliance after the 30 days, they could face unpaid leave for up to six months and then be terminated," the memo read.

Most US employees will fall under their vaccine requirements, which stems from President Joe Biden's executive order.

The US administration has ordered companies with 100 or more workers to ensure their employees are fully vaccinated or regularly tested for Covid-19 by January 18.

A Google spokesperson told The Verge on Tuesday: "As we've stated before, our vaccination requirements are one of the most important ways we can keep our workforce safe and keep our services running. We're committed to doing everything possible to help our employees who can get vaccinated do so, and firmly stand behind our vaccination policy".

The tech giant has asked its more than 1,50,000 employees to upload their vaccination status to its internal systems.

As the Omicron variant threat looms, Google is also reconsidering its plans to ask full-time employees to return to offices by January 10.

The company has changed its return to work plans several times as the pandemic evolved.

In August, when the delta variant was a top concern, Google had announced plans for hybrid return-to-work till January 10, 2022.