New York real-estate giant The Durst Organization says it will fire non-union workers who fail to get a COVID-19 shot by Labor Day

Douglas Durst is chairman of The Durst Organization

James Keivom/NY Daily News via Getty Images

• The Durst Organization has told about 350 staff they must get vaccinated by September 6.
• Staff who refuse will be "separated from the company," Crain's New York first reported.
• The real-estate giant will apply the rule to its non-union corporate workers.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

A New York City real estate developer has told about 350 workers that it will fire them if they don't get a COVID-19 vaccine by Labor Day, September 6.

The Durst Organization, a $8.1 billion family-owned company, said certain staff will be exempt for "medical or religious" reasons.

It will only apply the vaccine rule to its corporate, non-union workers, and not its roughly 700 union employees, who include building service workers and cleaners, Crain's New York first reported.

"For our corporate employees, unless they receive a medical or religious accommodation, if they are not vaccinated by Sept. 6th they will be separated from the company," Durst spokesman Jordan Barowitz told Crain's.

Barowitz confirmed the policy to Insider in an email.

Barowitz also said in an email to Insider that its corporate employees must have received their second vaccine dose at least two weeks before September 6.

Barowitz told the New York Post that Durst had informed corporate employees of the new mandate in June, and that it was "driven by the wishes of the employees who want to work in a safer environment."

Durst's union workers - who include building service workers, cleaners, and doormen - are protected under a collective bargaining agreement, an unnamed source familiar with the matter told The Post.

Read more: Zamir Kazi bought his first duplex in 2012 and his firm now owns more than 3,300 units. He breaks down the path to building his portfolio - and shares his best advice for breaking into real estate investing today.

Employers have grappled with whether to implement strict vaccine mandates for employees as offices reopen. Companies can legally require their workers to get vaccinated or ban them from the office, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said in guidance published in June.

Tech giant Facebook announced Wednesday that it would require all staff working on its US campuses to be fully jabbed. Google CEO Sundar Pichai also said in a Wednesday press release that workers returning to the office must be fully vaccinated.

New York City's government announced Monday that it would require all city workers to get vaccinated by September 13, or to take weekly tests. The number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the city has increased over recent weeks, according to local government data.

Cases of the highly contagious Delta variant have surged in recent weeks across the US. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday that fully vaccinated people should wear masks in all public indoor settings in certain COVID-19 hot spots, reversing previous guidance it set in May.

Robert Durst, brother of the company's chairman, Douglas Durst, is accused of murdering his friend, Susan Berman, in 2000, and is standing trial in Los Angeles.

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