Covid-19 2021: NSW businesses demanding worker vaccinations

Several employers have issued ‘no jab, no job’ policies, with workers needing to be vaccinated by a certain date. Find out who’s making the jab mandatory here.

The Daily Telegraph readers are in overwhelming support of businesses making it compulsory for employees to get the Covid-19 vaccination.

As much as 72 per cent of more than 1200 readers who took our poll voted in support of vaccine deadlines being set by numerous businesses and corporations in NSW.

Public Health Orders setting out deadlines for authorised workers to be vaccinated are in place right across the nation, including in NSW, where everyone from healthcare workers to hairdressers to hospitality staff must be fully vaccinated in order to work under the current Covid restrictions.

And now a list of big Aussie businesses have gotten on the front foot, asking their employees to roll up their sleeves.

Woolworths and Coles both announced on Thursday they would be making it compulsory for staff to get the jab.

Coles instore and distribution employees in NSW have until November 5 to have one dose, and must be fully immunised by December 17, while Woolies has set January 31 and March 31 next year as cut off dates for all staff.

It comes as the likes of airlines Qantas and Virgin, Telstra and food processing company SPC were the first few big names to demand their staff get vaccinated in the first few months of the Delta outbreak.

Many readers voiced their support for mandatory vaccinations.

“This is the right approach. Make it compulsory for work, set the date for compliance, and if there are people who refuse then they should face termination. The only way we can globally get back to normal life is for everyone to be vaccinated,” Kim commented.

“I feel a lot more comfortable interacting with these companies in person when I know they mandate vaccines,” Chris commented.

Despite widespread support for the move, some readers weren’t as willing to offer support.

“Demanding staff to get a vaccine that doesn’t give a person lifetime immunity from covid is an utter disgrace,” Sash commented.
But while airlines, telco companies and supermarkets are leading the charge, industrial and employment relations expert Professor Phil Lewis said non-essential businesses also had the power to get their staff vaccinated.

“It’s necessary for people in careers like aged care, childcare, schools even (to be vaccinated), as they’re client and customer based,” Prof Lewis said.

“But for employers in offices or other settings it’s a bit more murky… though occupational health and safety could be an argument (for mandatory vaccination), as under OHS laws employers have the duty to provide a safe working environment, which could extend to making sure the rest of the workforce are vaccinated and more protected if an unvaccinated person comes in with the virus.”

Do you agree with employers making vaccinations mandatory? Picture: AAP

And grounds for refusing to get the Covid-19 vaccine are proving to be murky waters for judiciary systems to navigate if the situation escalates.

A Supreme Court case launched by authorised workers in health and other sectors against Health Minister Brad Hazzard was dismissed earlier this month after the magistrate found the mandatory vaccine requirements didn’t infringe on workers’ human rights because they had a choice- get the jab or potentially lose their job.

“There are arguments such as certain medical conditions, disability which might provide a reasonable excuse not to get a Covid-19 vaccine in a minority of cases,” Professor Lewis said.

“But my personal view is people have obligations to society which outweigh human rights, and in this case the courts did a good job, ruling in the favour of the obligation to society (of these workers).”

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard’s Public Health Orders have so far been unsuccessfully challenged in the courts. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Adam Yip

While employees have the ability to lodge unfair dismissal or discrimination claims through bodies liek the Fair Work Commission and Anti-Discrimination Board, Shine Lawyers Employment Relations expert Samantha Mangwana has key advice for employers who are

unsure of their rights or obligations around mandatory vaccination policies in the workplace.

“The Fair Work ombudsman put out guidance for employers and employees, for when may be a lawful and reasonable instruction to impose a mandatory vaccination,” Ms Mangwana said.

“Employers should also conduct consultation, not just to gain legal advice, but with employees…flexibility around redeployment for those who won’t be vaccinated, or with reasonable incentive, such as flexibility in work hours or a day off to get the vaccine or recover, staff may be more willing.”

Ms Mangwana said mandatory vaccinations could potentially change the recruitment and employment landscape itself, making it hard for unvaccinated people to find other work.

“For employers who do want mandatory vaccination to proceed, it would be safer and simpler to introduce that at the recruitment stage… there’s no risk of unfair dismissal,” she said.

“It remains to be seen what will happen if unvaccinated people lose their job and have to look for work, if there are any roles available to them.”

Originally published as Covid-19 2021: NSW businesses demanding worker vaccinations