In-house legal departments are facing a big challenge: finessing company vaccine-exemption policies to strike the right balance between keeping workforces safe and minimizing exposure to litigation.

The issue is coming to the fore as more employers mandate vaccines for their workers. A Gartner Inc. study last month found that 46% of legal, compliance and HR execs expect their companies to enact vaccination mandates, up from 8% at the beginning of the year.