Can employers make it a mandatory health and safety requirement for employees to be vaccinated? As the Health and Safety at Work Act obliges employers to reduce workplace risks, it is reasonable for employers to ask employees to be vaccinated. Employees also have a duty to co- operate with their employer to help reduce workplace risks. If an employer is able to show that having a vaccine is the most reasonably practicable way of mitigating the risk of COVID-19, it could in theory mandate the vaccination as a health and safety requirement. However, it may be risky to say that a refusal to get the vaccine would necessarily amount to a health and safety breach by the employee.
What about data protection? Any employer considering introducing a vaccine monitoring or testing
programme should conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment to appraise any new areas of risk. They may also need to update their employee privacy notice to refl ect this.
Should employers be encouraging the vaccine? Employers need to consider vaccination as part of their risk assessment and should encourage employees to get vaccinated once it becomes a realistic possibility. Any employer intending to mandate the vaccine as part of its approach to reducing risks will be open to discrimination claims and must consider if there are reasonable alternatives while carrying out the risk assessment. Any policy should be objectively justifi ed as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate health and safety aim, maximising the number who can attend work safely.
What does this mean for employers? At present, we are still some time away from a vaccine being available to employees, so employers should not be looking to fi nalise their policies just yet. A supportive attitude is much safer and likely to be more productive than a heavy-handed and reactive approach requiring contractual obligation.
What can employers do now? Consider your policies carefully and take advice as early as possible. Look out for new guidance on the SELECT website over the coming weeks and talk to our Employment Team.
i
If you have an employment query, call our dedicated hotline on 0131 445 9216, available 8.30am-5pm Monday-
T ursday and 8.30am-2.30pm on Friday. CABLEtalk FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
