Citi says 99% of U.S. staffers complied with vaccine mandate

Citigroup said 99% of its U.S. employees have complied with its vaccine mandate, one of the strictest on Wall Street. 

The firm expects more employees will comply with the order before the deadline on Friday, Sara Wechter, head of human resources, said Thursday in a LinkedIn post. As part of the mandate, staffers were able to receive exemptions. 

Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

“A huge thank you to everyone at Citi who took action to meet this requirement: those who were already vaccinated, those who made the decision to get vaccinated, and those who requested and received approved religious and medical accommodations or state-permitted exemptions,” Wechter said.

Citigroup in October became the first major Wall Street bank to make getting the COVID-19 vaccine a condition of employment for U.S. workers as part of efforts to comply with an executive order from President Biden for companies with federal contracts. Citigroup has said it counts the U.S. government as a large and important client.

While that portion of Biden’s order is still being challenged in court, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the centerpiece of the White House’s push to get more people vaccinated when it rejected an Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that would have required 80 million workers to get shots or periodic tests.

Citigroup last week warned employees if they didn’t comply with the order by Friday they would be placed on unpaid leave and their last day of employment with the lender would come at the end of the month.

“Going into the last day, we expect the number of employees who have not complied will decrease even further,” Wechter said Thursday. “Our goal has always been to keep everyone at Citi, and we sincerely hope all of our colleagues take action to comply.”