Jobs against jabs

According to rumors, some companies will implement a 'No Jab, No Job' policy, requiring all workers to have received the COVID-19 vaccination.

A nationwide survey of over 1,000 managers done by the Chartered Management Institute indicated that more than half of managers in the UK want to be able to make coronavirus vaccines obligatory for workers returning to work.

There is presently no obligatory vaccination law in the UK, and the UK Government has declared that it would not establish mandatory COVID-19 immunizations for UK people. So, can an employer mandate you to be vaccinated against COVID-19?

A policy mandating staff vaccinations might be considered a fair management directive. This is depending on each employee's circumstances and should be determined on a case-by-case basis. For example, in the healthcare industry, it may be an acceptable management instruction to require an employee who cannot socially detach themselves inside the workplace. In most other industries, it would be difficult to demonstrate that vaccination is an acceptable managerial directive.

Employers have significant challenges in requiring required vaccinations under present workplace regulations, since there is a genuine danger of discrimination against individuals who are unable or unwilling to get vaccinated.

Employers are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of a protected trait under the Equality Act of 2010. (these include age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation). A "no jab, no job" policy runs the risk of discriminating against one or more of these protected characteristics, such as if an employee refuses to receive the immunization due to religious views. Another example is that pregnant women are not frequently provided the vaccination. It would be difficult to handle a situation in which a woman declines the vaccination but has not yet informed her employer of her pregnancy.

Employers would be better off promoting the vaccine rather than attempting to impose forced COVID-19 shots.

Any disciplinary or dismissal action taken as a result of an employee's refusal to take the vaccination should be carefully evaluated as well.