Morgan Stanley to ban unvaccinated staff and clients from the New York office

Morgan Stanley employees and clients who did not receive the Covid-19 vaccine will be barred from entering bank branches in New York City, according to an internal memo seen by the Financial Times.

“As of July 12, all employees, potential workforce, clients and visitors will need to confirm full vaccination in order to access the Morgan Stanley buildings in New York and Westchester,” reads a letter signed by Chief Human Resources Officer Mandell Crawley.

After that date, those who did not confirm that they were fully inoculated would lose access to the building, Crawley wrote, adding that “the vast majority of staff” had already reported getting stabbed.

The policy is designed to speed up the process of bringing the office back to normal, a spokeswoman said.

Morgan Stanley has already implemented vaccine-only workspaces in some departments, including institutional securities and wealth management, to enable “enhanced collaboration and productivity,” the memo said.

The bank is also loosening protocols for vaccinated staff by abolishing the requirement for daily health checks for those who want to enter the office or visit clients, starting on Wednesday.

Morgan Stanley’s vaccination policy is the strictest so far among the big Wall Street banks, which have spearheaded efforts to persuade workers to return to the office.

Earlier this month, rival Goldman Sachs determined that staff must do so detect their vaccination status, but unvaccinated staff are allowed in buildings as long as they wear masks and practice social distancing. At JPMorgan Chase, vaccine detection is still voluntary.

Last week, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, also said it would only open its offices vaccinated employees.

James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley, adopted hard stance about the need for New York-based employees to return to the office, arguing that if they feel comfortable in a restaurant, then they should also feel safe at work.

More than 70 percent of New Yorker adults received at least one dose of the vaccine, and the state withdrew the vast majority of restrictions from the pandemic era.

The American Commission for Equal Employment Opportunities said that in December companies could ban employees from jobs if they refused to be vaccinated, subject to religious and medical exemptions.

For now, the Morgan Stanley VaccineCheck system works on an honorary system, but the bank may later decide to ask for proof of someone’s vaccination status.

In April, Morgan Stanley teamed up with Capsule Pharmacy to host staff-only vaccine clinics at its headquarters in Times Square, people familiar with the arrangement say.