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Working at Cornell

Vaccine Exemptions

Procedures for Faculty and Staff to Request a Disability/Medical and/or Religious Exemption from the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

Effective Date: October 8, 2021 (updated June 29, 2022)

Responsible Office: Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX

Overview

The university adopted the COVID-19 vaccination requirement and these exemption procedures to comply with Executive Order 14042 (“Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors”) which directs Federal contractors/subcontractors to require COVID-19 vaccination except in limited circumstances where an employee is entitled to an exemption.

  • These procedures apply to employee requests for a disability/medical and/or religious exemption from the university’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
  • These procedures do not apply to any other requests for disability or religious accommodation [please refer to Policy 6.13 (“Disability Accommodation Process for Faculty and Staff”) and Policy 6.13.8 (“Religious Accommodation”)].

Seeking an Exemption

Employees seeking a disability/medical and/or religious exemption from the university’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement must complete the following steps:

  1. Click this link: https://dailycheck.cornell.edu/vax_self_reporting
  2. Select Form 5: “Faculty and Staff: I need to apply for a medical/disability or religious exemption.

An employee who requests both a disability/medical and a religious exemption should complete and submit both exemption requests at the same time and should not view one type of request as a backup for the other.

Supporting Documentation

Disability/Medical Exemption Requests

For disability/medical exemption requests, the Medical Certification for Exemption from the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement must be completed by a licensed medical provider (Physician, Physician Assistant, or Nurse Practitioner) and attached in the supporting documentation section of the exemption form.

Religious Exemption Requests

For religious exemption requests, supporting documents are optional. Exemption requests cannot be submitted via email.

The university may require additional information and documentation. The employee must cooperate in a timely fashion with all requests for additional information.

Determination

The Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX will email the determination about the exemption request to the employee’s university email. The determination is final on behalf of the university and is not subject to further review.

Deadlines

Employees should submit their requests in a timely fashion and allow at least five (5) working days for response. Employees who have received an offer letter and who would like to request an exemption request prior to their start date may submit the request as part of their post-offer process.

Questions

Questions or requests for assistance related to these procedures should be submitted to the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX at equity@cornell.edu. Please include “COVID-19 Exemption Inquiry” in the subject line.