Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is warning unvaccinated city employees that they should be prepared to lose their jobs if they don’t comply with the city’s employee vaccine mandate by December.

"The city's employee vaccine mandate is critical to protecting the health and safety of our workforce and the Angelenos we serve," the mayor said  Wednesday. "Employees must be vaccinated by December 18, and we are putting a rigorous testing program into place in the meantime. Let me be clear: Any employee who refuses to be vaccinated by this date should be prepared to lose their job."

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks a press conference at the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks a press conference at the new West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, May 24, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT TELLS PARENTS THEIR CHILDREN MUST EAT LUNCH IN THE RAIN DUE TO COVID

The deadline for city employees to be vaccinated was initially slated for Wednesday but a new proposal, which is pending approval from the city council, gives workers until December 18 to show proof of vaccination.

The proposal states that unvaccinated employees will have to submit to two coronavirus tests per week and have $65 deducted from each paycheck until the December 18 deadline.

SAN FRANCISCO SHUTS DOWN IN-N-OUT FOR NOT ENFORCING JAB MANDATE: 'WE REFUSE TO BECOME THE VACCINATION POLICE'

Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles, participates in a panel discussion during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. The event convenes the best minds in the world to tackle its most urgent challenges and to help realize its most exciting opportunities. Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles, participates in a panel discussion during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. The event convenes the best minds in the world to tackle its most urgent challenges and to help realize its most exciting opportunities. Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The city’s move, announced in July,  to force employees to be vaccinated has received stiff pushback from many residents and officials including Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva who has said publicly he will not enforce the mandate within his department.

"This is so politicized, I cannot in good conscience impose a mandate like that," he told Fox News earlier this month, saying that the mandate is "poorly thought out, poorly executed."

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2020, file photo Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks at a news conference in Los Angeles. Villanueva says he will not enforce the county's vaccine mandate in his agency. Villanueva, who oversees the largest sheriff's department in the county with roughly 18,000 employees, said Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, in a Facebook Live event that he does not plan to carry out the county's mandate, under which Los Angeles County employees had to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2020, file photo Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks at a news conference in Los Angeles. Villanueva says he will not enforce the county's vaccine mandate in his agency. Villanueva, who oversees the largest sheriff's department in the county with roughly 18,000 employees, said Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, in a Facebook Live event that he does not plan to carry out the county's mandate, under which Los Angeles County employees had to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File) (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong,File)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"I’m not going to be part of that," the sheriff added.

Data from the mayor’s office released on Tuesday shows 72.8% of the city's 50,000 employees are fully or partially vaccinated with 17.9% declining to state and 9.2% saying they were not vaccinated.