Apple will require unvaccinated employees to take daily COVID-19 tests

Apple is continuing to tighten its COVID-19 rules for employees who are unvaccinated.

As reported by Bloomberg, the company will now require its unvaccinated office employees to get daily COVID-19 tests. Unvaccinated retail employees will need to get tested twice a week. Vaccinated employees in both settings will need to take a rapid COVID-19 test once a week.

Apple Inc. will begin to force unvaccinated corporate employees to test for Covid-19 each time they want to enter an office, a move that tightens its virus protocols while still stopping short of a vaccine mandate.

The new requirement will also apply to employees who decline to report their vaccination status to Apple, the company told employees this week. Vaccinated staff will be required to take rapid tests once per week.

Apple retail store employees, meanwhile, will have slightly different rules. Unvaccinated staff will be asked to test twice per week instead of each day they come to work. Vaccinated workers will also need to take a rapid test each week.

According to the memo, which was sent to Apple employees, the new policies will go into effect on November 1.

Apple is asking employees to report their vaccination status by Oct. 24, a delay from an earlier mid-September deadline. Employees will also have to show proof of their status in the coming days. The iPhone maker outlined the policies in emails to corporate and retail staff this week. The new requirements go into effect on Nov. 1, Apple told staff.

Employees will be able to pick up the at-home tests at its offices and retail stores and will report the results through an internal app.

Apple has been slowly inching towards a vaccine mandate for its in-person employees, but has still stopped short of one. Other technology companies, like Google and Facebook, already require vaccination in order to enter their offices.