Most employees favor President Joe Biden's efforts to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for employees at large companies, and many workers would consider reporting a co-worker for violating the vaccine rules, a new study suggests.

On Thursday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration rolled out the details of COVID vaccination rules for workers at large businesses with more than 100 workers. Employees will have to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4, 2022, or face regular testing.

“The time to watch and wait on vaccine mandates is over. The Biden Administration has started the clock – and now it’s up to company leaders to quickly implement the new standards with as little disruption as possible," says Sydney Heimbrock, chief industry advisory for government at Qualtrics, an employee experience software company.

A study published Wednesday by Qualtrics surveyed 1,309 employees to see how they would feel about vaccine mandates and how it would shape workplace culture.

Overall, the survey found the majority of employees (58%) support the executive order mandating vaccinations in some workplaces. And over half (55%) of employees would consider reporting a co-worker for violating the rules (23% would strongly consider reporting and 45% would not consider reporting a co-worker).

A vast majority of employees view vaccinations as a political issue, which can be tough to navigate in a professional workplace, the survey also found. An overwhelming 84% of employees said politics influences their company leaders’ handling of vaccine, mask and testing policies. In fact, the top reason people reported for staying unvaccinated was a lack of trust in the government.

"Vaccine mandates are politically polarizing and have become an emotional issue for employees and their families. That’s why, leading with empathy will be key to creating the environment of trust and mutual understanding we need to successfully navigate this new workplace challenge,” Heimbrock says.

Targeted vaccine mandates were even more popular among those surveyed.

Both a federal vaccine mandate for healthcare workers (64%) and federal workers (60%) were more supported than the broader vaccine mandate.

Support for mandates also varied across industries.

About three-quarters of tech workers surveyed supported federal mandates. Meanwhile, government workers were on the other end of the spectrum, with only 51% support.

Federal employees have begun protesting ever since the Biden administration announced in September that it would require all federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated. Workers at a NASA rocket engine test site in Mississippi staged a protest in October to show their opposition to a federal vaccine mandate.

Support for the mandate was similar across the health care, retail and travel, hospitality and food industries, with support hovering around 55% in each, according to the study.

High support for vaccine mandates in the tech industry comes as top tech companies have already enacted vaccine mandates for their employees.

In July, Google was the first major tech company to announce a vaccine mandate for its employees looking to return to the office.

"Anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated. We’re rolling this policy out in the U.S. in the coming weeks and will expand to other regions in the coming months," Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a memo.

Microsoft announced soon after on Aug. 3 it will require proof of vaccination for all employees, vendors and guests, and Facebook said any employee going to work in person would need to be vaccinated, according to NBC News.

Michelle Shen is a Money & Tech Digital Reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her @michelle_shen10 on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID vaccine OSHA mandate: Many could turn in coworkers, study says