Tech firms offering paid leave to staff to get Covid-19 vaccinations

A raft of tech companies are looking at ways of getting their staff fully vaccinated against Covid.

A raft of tech and fintech firms are offering their staff paid leave to get their two Covid jabs. Picture: AFP

Fujitsu, IBM, Openpay, Atlassian and Canva are among a raft of tech and fintech firms offering staff paid leave to get their two Covid jabs. In Fujitsu’s case, even contractors qualify for paid leave.

With Australian vaccine rates low and the race on to achieve 70 and 80 per cent vaccine coverage, some technology firms are offering even a full day’s paid leave or as long as it taken for staff to be inoculated.

Japanese multinational Fujitsu said it was offering 3600 employees and contractors in Australia and New Zealand up to half a day of additional paid leave to receive each Covid-19 vaccination. Fujitsu will also support an immediate family member with vaccination.

“I believe that large employers must take some responsibility for supporting vaccination efforts and help advance our vaccination rollout,” Fujitsu ANZ chief executive Graeme Beardsell said.

“This program is extensive as it not only incorporates Fujitsu’s employees but also extends through the co-operation of its external agencies to those contractors engaged by Fujitsu.”

Offering paid time to be vaccinated not only protects employees and their families from Covid, it will reduce lockdowns and open commerce and the economy sooner. A faster return to business activity also might pay for the short term cost of vaccination leave in company payrolls.

Dozens of technology and fintech companies are joining the trend to offer paid vaccination leave.

IBM said it was allowing “a few thousand” Australian staff to take paid time off to be inoculated.

“IBM believes that getting vaccinated is an important tool in protecting ourselves, our families and communities and helping us get back to normal and to regular activities,” a spokesperson said.

“Staff can access the time they need; it just needs to be agreed with their manager.”

BNPL company Openpay said 275 people would benefit from paid vaccination leave, 192 of whom were in Australia.

Epson Australia was offering paid leave to 150 Australian staff – they will be paid as usual if they obtain the vaccine during working hours.

Lendi CEO David Hyman.

Dozens of other companies have also joined the push. The Lendi Group, a key organisation behind the Great Aussie Vaccine Drive, said tech and fintech firms comprised about half the companies joining up.

They included Atlassian, Canva, Airtasker, Doordash, ReadyTech, Lime, Linktree, Twilio, Finder and MRI Software.

Co-founder and CEO of Lendi Group, David Hyman, said the drive had grown from seven founding businesses to more than 230 in three weeks.

“Getting vaccinated is crucial in protecting Australians and building towards a new Covid normal for all of us,” Mr Hyman said.

Atlassian employees have special leave to use for any Covid-related hardship that’s additional to annual leave and sick leave. Staff could be looking after children, getting the vaccine or recovering from symptoms associated with the vaccine. This applied to more than 6000 employees globally including all Australian staff.

End-to-end process management and workflow automation firm Nintex said all of its 180 Australian staff members qualified for paid time off for first and second Covid vaccines, business intelligence firm Board International said its 20 local staff were eligible while cybersecurity firm LogRhythm said its Australian staff were eligible.

Optus said vaccination leave was not deducted from leave entitlements, while the entire TPG Telecom Group brands including Vodafone, TPG and iiNet were also on board.

Telstra said it was urging everyone to consider getting the vaccine when it becomes available to them, and it would provide paid time off to do this.

“We haven’t made getting vaccinated mandatory for certain roles, but will continue to consider relevant advice, particularly for our people working in high-risk locations and with vulnerable people, such as aged care, hospitals and Indigenous communities,” a spokesperson said.

SafetyCulture, Red Hat, Digistor, TCL Mobile, Ecovacs Robotics, Suunto, Fastly, TicToc, Tecala, Somerville, Turnitin, Fujifilm, Wlth, Silver Trak Digital, Aspera Mobile, Sorted Services, Boost Mobile, Motorola Solutions, Checkbox, SAP, Booking.com and Magna Systems all confirmed they were offering paid leave, as were Mantel Group, Fluent Commerce and Skillsoft, while commercial music start-up Qsic was offering two days of paid leave.