COVID-19 Global Updates: Default to remote + vaccination and mask guidance

Editor’s note: Jennifer Dudeck, Red Hat's senior vice president and chief people officer, shared the following email with all Red Hat associates around the world today.

Summary (TL;DR): Red Hat is extending its global default to remote guidance to the first business day of 2022. Beginning Monday, Aug. 9, 2021, Red Hatters working or gathering in a Red Hat office in the United States must be vaccinated. We are currently determining how this vaccination guidance will be extended across countries, including considering the availability of vaccines.

Hi all,

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Red Hat has made the health and wellbeing of associates our top priority. We continue to closely follow developments and recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help keep Red Hatters, our partners, our customers, and our communities safe. 

As conditions continue to evolve, so must Red Hat’s approach. With that in mind, we are sharing the following updates to our guidance.

• Red Hat’s global default to remote guidance is extended through the first business day of 2022. We ask that anyone who can work remotely please continue to do so. We will continue to make available access to offices, customers, gatherings and events where country-level conditions allow, enabling associates to make individual decisions about their best working environment. We will also work to improve the experience for Red Hatters working in a distributed environment, including determining a Q4 Recharge Day. More information on this will follow.
• Beginning Monday, Aug. 9, 2021, Red Hatters working or gathering in a Red Hat office in the United States must be fully vaccinated. We are currently determining how this guidance will be extended to other countries, including considering the availability of vaccines. We plan to share more information soon, including additional details for those Red Hatters who wish to work from a Red Hat office and are not eligible for vaccination due to medical or other protected reasons. If you have already returned to a Red Hat office in the U.S., you will be contacted next week with details on how to affirm your vaccination. Increasingly, proof of vaccination has also become a requirement for customer and partner interactions, and we are working to understand how these requirements will impact Red Hatters. We continue to encourage and support all associates to get vaccinated wherever possible. 
• Associates must continue to wear masks when engaged in in-person work interactions with others, whether in the office, with customers, when gathering with other Red Hatters, and when attending events. Masking is required no matter your vaccination status, unless a confirmed exception applies. Any further changes to this guidance will be announced on a country-by-country basis through official Red Hat communications.

Our global return framework has always been rooted in agility and flexibility. We all understand that local conditions and regulations vary significantly and can change, for better and for worse, over time. How our associates have adapted to working from home has also evolved. I know you will have questions about this guidance, and we are still working through details. Thank you all in advance for your continued patience and understanding as we work to keep Red Hatters safe while providing the flexibility you need. 

Best,

Jen