As Wall Street banks struggle to find a strategy to bring workers back to the office without putting them at risk of getting COVID, the bank has decided that Citi employees who don't comply with this mandate by Jan. 14 will be placed on unpaid leave, and their last day of employment will come at the end of the month, according to a message to Citigroup staff seen by Bloomberg.

This is by far the most restrictive requirement among Wall Street firms. But whether or not it will help the financial services industry bring workers back to the office more quickly remains to be seen.

On top of this, Citi is holding bonus payments over workers' heads, saying that any employees who refuse the vaccine also won't receive bonus payments for 2021 unless they sign a legal document giving up their right to sue Citigroup, presumably for wrongful termination since the legality of employer vaccine mandates is still being chewed over by SCOTUS.

Workers who are forced out by the vaccination policy can apply for other jobs at Citi in the future, but they shouldn't bother if they don't "see the light" and get vaccinated.

"You are welcome to apply for other roles at Citi in the future as long as you are compliant with Citi's vaccination policy," the company said in the memo.

According to Bloomberg, more than 90% of Citigroup's staffers in the US have already been vaccinated. Any workers who haven't gotten their shots are welcome to apply for religious or medical exemptions. Although it's not clear what those applying for an exemption will do during the period between the start of the vaccine mandate, and whenever Citi finishes analyzing all the applications for an exemption.

Unsurprisingly, Citi is already facing public backlash for its decision to push out anti-vaxxers. One Twitter user questioned if Citi would take responsibility for any vaccine-induced medical issues (like the 'almost harmless' inflammation of the heart that has been associated with mRNA vaccines and younger users).