COVID-19 Vaccination status of employees

As more businesses return to the workplace a key topic that employers are asking is whether organisations can force employees to have COVID-19 vaccinations before they return to work or in order to do their roles.  Here are a few cautionary considerations employers should understand:

• Vaccinations are only mandatory for employees who work in care homes currently
• Unless there is a clause in contracts which requires an employee to have a vaccination, then employers cannot force this on their employees – a clause can only be inserted in to contracts following consultation with staff and by gaining mutual agreement to this
• Employers should consider whether by requiring employees to have the vaccination could be classed as discrimination and whether asking if an employee has had the vaccine could breach data protection and privacy concerns if there is not a justifiable reason to ask in the first place
• If you don’t have a reason to ask and do not have a reason to hold such data, then you shouldn’t ask
• Having a policy in place which outlines why vaccinations might be important is vital to ensuring you don’t get accused by employees of unfair treatment or discrimination

If you need our help to navigate vaccination queries for your business, please contact us here or call us on 03333 660 567