We’ve already had two calls this week asking us “Can I make my employees have a COVID vaccine?” The short answer to this is “No”. It’s also unlikely to be fair to discipline or dismiss an employee because they don’t want to be vaccinated. It would be highly unusual for any employer to force an employee to undergo a medical procedure (which is what being vaccinated amounts to). Consider also, that some employees may be unable to have the vaccine. Employers do have a duty of care to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and anyone visiting or affected by their business. If your risk assessment establishes that being vaccinated reduces the risk of contracting the virus, it’s reasonable to ask employees to get vaccinated. But, you can’t make employees have a COVID vaccine. Do your employees need to tell you that they’ve had a vaccination? No, they don’t. Health data is sensitive personal information. If you record that employees have been vaccinated, make sure that you collect the minimum information. Maybe restricting this to simply, have they had the vaccine, yes or no. Considering adding COVID vaccination as a contractual clause? Take care. Enforcing this change, […]
