How to create a Vaccination Policy for business
The vaccination program for COVID-19 has presented issues for both employers and employees. Businesses have to not only comply with the law, but also navigate establishing covid policies in the course of business. Those decisions must be made in circumstances that crossover a number of different areas of law including Government regulations, privacy, health and safety, employment, the Bill of Rights and human rights. The Vaccination programs have also required employees to make sometimes difficult decisions in the context of their employment. All of that is happening in a constantly evolving pandemic and Government response.
The Government’s mandatory vaccination requirements for certain sectors has been upheld by the courts in both an individual employment dispute and a more fundamental challenge to the overall legality of vaccine mandate scheme.
Separately to mandated vaccinations, businesses can also require that specific roles must be performed by a vaccinated employee if a risk assessment identifies that is necessary from a health and safety perspective. Relevant factors in assessing whether the role requires vaccination will include the place of work, contact with other employees in terms of both distance and time, the nature of any customer interaction and the vulnerability of customers. Employers and employees should also be considering other measures that could help to minimise the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. All those COVID-19 related decisions should be made following appropriate consultation between employers and employees. All the regular employment laws continue to apply, such as the obligation on both employers and employees to act in good faith, fairly and reasonably.
Determining appropriate policies, from both an employer and employee perspective, is a complicated and fact-specific situation depending on the particular circumstances. The pandemic and Government response continue to change and adapt. There is a need for both employers and employees to have legal advice in these tricky times.