Southwest nixes putting staff on unpaid leave

Southwest Airlines has nixed its plan to put unva¢¢inated, workers seeking religious or medical exemption on unpaid leave starting in December if their requests haven’t been approved yet.

The airline said in a memo to staffers on Friday that if their exemption requests weren’t approved by the federal deadline on Dec. 8, they could continue to work until the company reviews their application, CNBC reported.

This is a change from what was previously communicated. Initially, we communicated that these Employees would be put on unpaid leave and that is no longer the case, the memo reportedly said.

Employees will be given until Nov. 24 to complete their vaccination regimen or apply for an exemption.

If employees’ exemption requests are denied, they can reapply if they have "new information or circumstances it would like the Company to consider," according to the memo.