Economics and Government

I currently work for Outback Steak House. I recently received notice that this year Outback has chosen to pay for over half of the cost of flu shots. All we must do is take our pay stub into Target and pay a small fee of ten dollars, total cost is twenty four, and we will receive this years shots. Surprisingly, there are still many of my fellow co-workers who have chosen to abstain from getting the shot, even when it is provided at such a cheap rate. Apparently, the subsidy alone does not provide enough incentive to go to Target and receive the vaccination. Interestingly enough, more people have been sick this month with the flu, and probably because they chose to abstain from the shot. The question now becomes, what would serve as better motivation. Should Outback start making it mandatory to get the shot? Obviously there are pros and cons to this approach, but something has to be done. We talked in class last week, Power and Prosperity, about how when the population size of a group is smaller, it is easier to hold people accountable. I wonder if that approach would work for us at Outback. Maybe if we had a board that showed who had gotten their shot, and who had not. This way when people got sick we could hold them accountable. Although the subsidy has been provided, we still fall short of taking advantage.