As you will be aware, the UK is well ahead of the rest of the world on administering the Coronavirus vaccine. Priority is being given to frontline healthcare workers and those most likely to be hospitalised if they catch COVID-19, mostly older members of the population and those with underlying health conditions. This means that many of your team members will not yet have been offered the vaccine but if the rollout continues at the current pace it is likely that they may well be in the coming months. The Government has set a target that all adults in the UK will have been offered a vaccination by September 2021 so it is a good idea to be prepared as your employees and workers may well need time off to attend vaccination appointments.
To help you prepare and provide information to your teams we have developed a Coronavirus Vaccine Policy which you can access by signing up for our Advice Line services.
We have also drafted a letter you may wish to send to your employees and workers encouraging them to get vaccinated when the opportunity arises, once again you can access this by signing up for our Advice Line services.
We hope you will find these useful. If you need some help or advice, give us a call.
Can we make vaccination compulsory?
There has been speculation in the media as to whether employers will be able to introduce a “no jab, no job” policy within workplaces and we have been asked this question too. The Government has not made the vaccine compulsory so an employment tribunal would be likely to take a very dim view of employers trying to make it compulsory by the back door so to speak. There are a number of reasons for not making it compulsory and you could fall foul of these if you try to dismiss employees who do not wish to be vaccinated. Of course, there are exceptions and if you have workplace where vaccination is critical e.g. within healthcare settings, then providing you have considered the whole picture and listened to your employees, then you would be in a much stronger position to defend a claim. Trying to enforce vaccination when some people fear the speed at which it’s been developed and tested, the possibility of a health threat, that it might contain animal products and so on, make enforcement without very sound business critical reasons very risky. Claims might include violation of human rights or indirect discrimination on belief or religious grounds.
Our advice? Encourage your employees and facilitate them being vaccinated (see our template policy and letter), paid time off would undoubtedly help, but don’t try to make it compulsory unless it’s absolutely critical.
Our Support and Advice
Please do talk to us if we can help in any way, we are here to support you.
Guidance and support
We are constantly updating and adding to our Coronavirus Dropbox. Support for getting your business is available via our Advice Line services.
Please note, this briefing is accurate at the time of writing and intended as guidance, it is subject to change as the COVID-19 and Government advice changes; it is not intended to replace advice so please do call us if you have any queries.
