After announcing plans to mandate vaccinations on all of its U.S. productions for “Zone A” workers, Netflix Inc. has expanded those rules to include employees and visitors at the company's offices.
At Netflix’s Sunset Boulevard location in Hollywood and its Los Gatos headquarters, the company will implement the policies as it continues to allow employees to work from home with the option of coming to the office.
The announcement, which was first reported by Variety on Aug. 4, did not specify when the policy goes into effect.
In late July Netflx said it would implement “Zone A” mandates, making it the first studio to require vaccines since Hollywood studios struck a deal for return-to-work protocols with the major guilds, including SAG-AFTRA and the Director's Guild of America.
Zone A refers to all actors and the crew members on a production that work directly with them. The latest move expands those requirements significantly to individuals in zones B and C, which ultimately includes visitors to Netflix sets and offices who aren’t employees.
Shortly after Netflix’s initial announcement, Walt Disney Co. issued a statement that the company will require all salaried and non-union U.S. employees get vaccinated, and began negotiations with unions under collective bargaining agreements.
Microsoft Corp., Google and Walmart Inc. will also require all or most of their staff to get vaccinated before returning to in-person work.
