Unvaccinated Spotlight staff won’t get Christmas bonus

Thousands of staff will be required to prove they have been jabbed against Covid-19, otherwise they could miss out on their Christmas bonus.

Thousands of staff at one of Australia’s biggest retail chains could miss out on their Christmas bonuses if they refuse to get their Covid-19 vaccinations.

Spotlight Group – which owns the popular craft chain as well as Anaconda, Mountain Designs and Harris Scarfe – told staff via internal email that they had to provide proof of their vaccinations to receive the end of year incentive.

The decision could impact up to 8000 staff members.

The staff memo was leaked to 2GB breakfast host Ben Fordham, who read out the contents of the email on Monday morning.

“For those of you who are otherwise eligible for a festive bonus this year, in order to both ensure that you now qualify and that it is processed early, please provide your manager with confirmation of your vaccination status,” the email said.

Spotlight Group had announced that Christmas payments would be paid out two months earlier for its 8000 staff on the condition they receive at least one Covid jab.

“Vaccination is the quickest path to ending debilitating lockdowns, the most effective way of mitigating the Covid risk to our people and the entire community, and the only way to open the Australian economy,“ Spotlight managing director Avi Gilboa told The Australian.

“In the context of a global pandemic, safety at Spotlight takes on an entirely new dimension. As a result, we want to positively incentivise our staff to reduce the risk of viral transmission to team members and customers.“

Anaconda staff are impacted, along with Mountain Designs and Harris Scarfe. Picture: Matt Thompson

Is it legal to tie vaccines to bonuses?

But Giri Sivaraman, a principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn specialising in employment law, said these type of policies needed to be fair.

Normally when you set a bonus or incentive scheme, it’s done on the basis of performance and meeting targets, he noted.

“It’s very unusual to have incentives based on someone going through a medical procedure or medical treatment,” he told news.com.au.

“I don’t think it’s inherently unlawful except the only issue that arises is if someone can’t get the vaccination because of a particular reasonable medical reason and then that person might say, ‘I’m being indirectly discriminated against as I have no opportunity to get this incentive.’

“One other issue might be is you do have to do it in a way that’s fair, so taking into account some people have much better access to vaccines depending on where you live or how old you are.”

He said a real issue was about how to make it fair to allow everyone to participate in the incentives, particularly if they might miss out on being vaccinated due to medical reasons.

The best way to handle the issue of vaccination is to consult with employees first up about why they are important and the health reasons people need them in the workplace.

“I think you can’t avoid having those consultations and so if you are going to offer an incentive don’t make that where you start – make that where you finish,” he advised.

“If you’ve had your consultation and taken into account availability of vaccinations and also worked out what you can do for those who medically can’t get vaccinated, and it would only be a few people, then maybe at the end talk about the incentives.”

Spotlight Group did not respond to news.com.au’s request for comment on their policy.

Maurice Blackburn lawyer Giri Sivaraman said employers first step should be to consult with staff about incentives linked to vaccinations. Picture: David Kelly

Mr Sivaraman said he wasn’t surprised that more and more businesses were offering incentives to encourage their staff to get vaccinated.

“I think employers don’t want to have fights with a few staff or create rifts with the few that won’t vaccinate and the many that will, and they want to get uptake happening quickly without resorting to the mandatory vaccination direction, so this is probably their way through that issue,” he noted.

He added it was “probably good” employers were offering money, rather than beer as an incentive.

“If this is based on a health thing, we want to stay health focused,” he added.

Telstra chief executive Andy Penn has announced a consultation about making vaccines mandatory for staff. Picture: Supplied

Telstra’s potential move

Meanwhile, Telsta is considering a no jab, no job policy after it emailed its 8300 frontline staff about a proposal to make the Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for customer facing roles.

The telecommunications company had previously highlighted staff would be awarded $200 worth of points to retailers like Woolworths, Coles and Myers if they got double jabbed.

Its chief executive Andy Penn announced a week-long consultation with staff, unions and partners.

“We would require people in these roles to get their first vaccination by October 15 and the second by November 15. That said, we would be flexible if there are vaccine supply issues,” he said.

“We would also add this requirement to employment contracts for new starters in these types of roles – whether they are new to Telstra or transferring from another role.”

Telstra staff are being consulted on mandatory vaccinations. Picture: Allan Reinikka/The Morning Bulletin

At this stage, Telstra is not proposing vaccination to be a requirement for people who can work from home, he noted in the email.

“But this is something we may consider down the track, particularly once more of us start to head back into the office and meet up in person,” he said.

“I understand some people may choose not to get vaccinated – whether that is for personal or medical reasons. But given what’s at stake when it comes to protecting people’s health we would only consider exceptions on established medical grounds.”

Several Aussie companies have mandated vaccines for staff including fruit and vegetable giant SPC, Qantas and Virgin Australia.