Cox Automotive, owner of Autotrader.com, KBB.com and other brands, is requiring some of its employees to vaccinate against Covid-19 or face losing their jobs.
The Atlanta-based company, with a global workforce of 27,000, is following in step with its parent company, Cox Enterprises, which has issued a partial vaccination mandate across its media and communications properties, as well.
“By Oct. 18, we are requiring employees in certain locations to be fully vaccinated, except those with approved religious and medical exemptions,” according to a Cox Automotive statement. “With the rapid spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, vaccines are an important step to protect the health and safety of our employees, families, customers and communities. We will continue to follow the guidance of federal, state and local health officials to assess our markets as the situation evolves.”
Cox Automotive wouldn’t specify which of its operations are covered by the mandate and which are exempt.
But in a Cox document circulated on Twitter by Bazinga Science Man, the company spells out consequences for non-compliance.
Those who don’t get vaccinated or receive an exemption by October 18 “will be subject to separation,” the document states.
It continues: “Employees will be given a two-week notification period after which they will be separated. If during this period an employee decides to be vaccinated and submits proof of having completed their first shot, the separation date will be suspended and the employee will be allowed an additional four weeks to obtain proof of full vaccination.”
Workers who lose their jobs under the policy won’t receive severance pay or continued health insurance coverage under the U.S. COBRA plan, the document states.
Cox Automotive owns more than 20 brands, including the aforementioned marketplaces as well as digital-retail companies Dealer.com, vAuto, and DealerTrack. It also runs the biggest used-car wholesaler in the world, Manheim, with 18,000 employees worldwide.