Although their signature comes with a "special separation payment," many have not signed the agreement and won't get the money. Employees say the payment was determined by an algorithm and for some, amounted to just over two months' pay.

By most accounts, working at Hershey was a great job. Employees at the Hershey, Pennsylvania headquarters and at offices in other states report higher than average wages and bowls of candy placed around the offices for snacking. During holidays, employees would get a big bag of treats to take home, although that practice stopped after Easter 2021. There is a sample room for trying new products, colorful graphics decorating the walls, and the products are more fun than selling insurance.

But it stopped being fun after months of human resources meetings that employees say included education about the vaccines, asking if the employee had changed their mind about getting the shots, and uncomfortably invasive questions.

"I really thought I'd be OK," Kim Durham, a payment analyst and sourcing buyer, told The Epoch Times. "I thought, you cannot question my faith. Nobody can question that."

Durham asked for a religious accommodation in August and assumed she would get it.

"I thought this was behind me until September when I met with an HR representative. It was an interrogation on your religious beliefs. They twisted your words and tried to put words in your mouth. It was terrible. I was asked such personal questions that had nothing to do with religion."

She was shocked when, in November, she received word that her request for religious accommodation had been denied.

The Epoch Times interviewed two other Hershey employees who are in their final days with the company and didn't want their names used until they are fully separated, for fear of losing certain benefits.