Deloitte Australia to implement return to office vaccine requirement

Deloitte’s partners, employees, contractors and suppliers will have to provide proof of vaccination if they want to work from firm’s office or attend company events.

Adam Powick, Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Australia says vaccinations are key for us to be able to start to connect again with each other and the rest of the world Picture: Lucas Dawson

Deloitte Australia will require all employees be vaccinated to enter company offices by the start of next year, becoming the first of the big four professional services firms to implement a partial vaccine mandate and firing the starting gun on what could be a vaccine passport race by white-collar employers as they welcome back staff to offices.

On Monday Deloitte Australia CEO Adam Powick told the firm’s partners, employees, contractors and suppliers that proof of vaccination will be required to enter company premises and attend company events.

Under the new policy, all partners, employees and contractors will be required to declare their vaccination status to the firm.

However, it is understood the policy is not necessarily permanent and may no longer be needed as the health and safety impacts of Covid-19 in a highly vaccinated nation become clearer.

Mr Powick said the policy represented a move by Deloitte to help re-open the country while providing a safe working environment to staff.

“Vaccinations are key for us to be able to start to connect again with each other and the rest of the world,” Mr Powick said.

“We want to play our part in the safe and effective reopening of our country and this requires us to take a clear position on the importance of vaccination and ensuring a safe working environment for our people.”

The move by Deloitte could put pressure on other employers at professional services and consultancy firms to follow suit or cause a fracturing of the industry as each company adopts different policies.

EY confirmed with The Australian it was preparing a staff vaccine policy which could be unveiled to employees as early as Friday. It is believed that EY will introduce a Covid-19 vaccine policy similar to that of Deloitte.

Rival firm KPMG said it has no plans to introduce a manadory vaccine policy for its workers however it is encouraging staff to get vaccinated if they can.

“We are still working through our return to office plans for the various jurisdictions,” the KPMG spokeswoman said.

Catherine Walsh, head of people and culture at PwC Australia, said that in line with the government advice in each jurisdiction the firm strongly encourages its people to get vaccinated once they become eligible, taking into account the government health advice in their state or territory, and the advice of their health practitioner.

“We will continue to monitor and evolve this position as required, based on government guidance.

“Our commitment to health and safety is paramount - to keep our people safe, ensure compliance with all health orders, and create an environment where everyone feels safe and belongs.

“We’re equipping our people with the latest up to date information on where and how to receive their vaccine and our people can take personal leave to give them maximum flexibility when booking their shot or to recover from any side-effects.”

She said PwC was “currently exploring what Covid normal looks like for PwC Australia” as it moves closer to reopening offices in ACT, NSW and Victoria, based on government guidance.

“We will continue to support our people to work flexibly.”

A spokeswoman for Accenture said the firm was still “ironing out the specific details” around how it will return to the office – including what this looks like for its people at various vaccination stages and meeting all public health requirements. But there was no plan to have mandatory vaccines at this moment.

“While we are not mandating vaccines at this time, we strongly support science and public health advice that encourages vaccination. We believe vaccine accessibility is essential to advancing overall public health and the health and safety of our people, their families and the communities in which we live. To support this we offer paid leave for our people to get vaccinated or to take a dependent to be vaccinated.”

The Deloitte policy comes just days after the big four firms – Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PwC – joined forces to launch a campaign supporting the government's National Vaccination targets by touting the benefit lifting lockdowns and reopening Australia’s international borders will have on the economy.

The “Vax Return” campaign will provide businesses with information they can unlock when the national vaccination targets are reached, with the chief economists of the four firms jointly estimating the economy will gain $30bn within three months of opening.

The four firms have been proactively encouraging their staff to get vaccinated through a mix of incentives, special leave days, and planned workplace vaccine programs, but have until now refrained from vaccine requirements.

But some of their international sister firms – like KPMG Canada – have recently introduced return to office vaccine requirements.

Deloitte’s decision to implement the requirement follows a company policy review, where it determined that mass vaccination is the only way countries can control a health threat like COVID-19 while delivering a return to normality.

The timing of when employees across Australia will be subject to the new rules will vary based on location, with all offices to be covered by January 1 2022.

But for the states currently in lockdown, the vaccination requirement will start from the date of reopening of the office.

At the moment, Deloitte considers the reopening of offices to occur shortly after the relevant State or Territory reaches 80 per cent vaccination of its population over 16 years, in line with State Government health directives.