It has been stated that some British businesses are contemplating making Covid vaccination a condition of employment.
As the government admitted that it was up to individual companies whether they wanted workers or customers to hold coronavirus vaccination passports, some are looking to draw up ‘no jab, no job’ contracts for their employees. This would be for both new and existing staff and would take place once the whole population has been vaccinated.
Nadhim Zahawi - Vaccines Minister - told the BBC:
“It’s up to businesses what they do, but we don’t yet have the evidence of the effect of vaccines on transmission.”
This is despite having previously warned that such use of domestic vaccine passports would be wrong and Prime Minister Boris Johnson having said that the government will not introduce domestic vaccine passports as this would raise many moral and legal issues.
James Davies - Partner at law firm Lewis Silkin - stated that any company seeking to amend workers’ current contracts would have to first gain consent. This, however, was not necessary for new hires, but some law firms said that several companies were also looking at requiring existing employees to have coronavirus jabs.
Government ministers are uncomfortable about this as they suggest it could lead to discriminating against people who cannot, or will not, receive the vaccination.
One government official remarked:
“Companies must ensure their business practices are legal and don’t discriminate against customers or employees.”
Many employers are wary of any compulsory requirement for their staff to be vaccinated as this would mean handling medical data, leaving them open to legal challenges on discrimination grounds.
Peter Cheese - Chief Executive of the CIPD organisation for HR professionals - said:
“The UK government hasn’t made the vaccine compulsory, so neither can employers. Nor should they be restricting people coming into work based on whether they have had the vaccine.”
The CIPD also stated that members in sectors including care, dentistry and food manufacturing were asking for advice on how to handle situations where staff refused vaccinations. A City of London lawyer, whilst saying that the introduction of clauses in employment contracts requiring workers to have vaccinations would be risky because of the possibility of discrimination, claimed they were more likely to be defensible if used in care sectors.
