(CNN Business) Ford will mandate vaccines for its 32,000 US salaried employees, a spokesperson for the company said Wednesday.
Those workers have until December 8 to be fully vaccinated.
Employees who refuse to do so and do not have an approved religious or medical exemption will be put on paid leave for a maximum of 30 days.
"The goal is to achieve highest possible vaccination rate without severe consequences to any employee," said the spokesperson.
Ford is the first of the big-three US automakers to mandate vaccines for its US employees.
The company's previous policy was to encourage vaccines among its US workforce of 88,000 — but the company did not make them mandatory.
Ford F General Motors GM , and Stellantis already require their employees in Canada to be fully vaccinated. »