“No Jab, No Job” – Can I Make It Compulsory For My Employees To Take Up The Vaccine?

The Chartered Management Institute has conducted a poll of 1,050 UK managers and 58% were in support of employers making Covid-19 vaccines compulsory for employees and 43% thought that access to the workplace should be restricted for staff who refuse to get a vaccine on non-medical grounds.

More than half of the respondents to the survey also said that they anticipated conflict between staff reluctant to be vaccinated and those who feel unsafe working with them.

Can employers make it compulsory for their employees to take up a Covid-19 vaccine?

Legally, employers cannot force employees to have vaccines but could consider whether they will discipline and potentially dismiss employees who refuse to be vaccinated. For such a process to be fair, the employer will need to show that this is reasonable in all of the circumstances and we do not think that this is likely for most workplaces.

However, there may be some scope on health and safety grounds in certain sectors, such as health and social care. In the main, employees will not necessarily be required to tell their employer whether they have been vaccinated or not and employers will have to consider whether they want to amend their policies on this and the data protection implications.

There is more scope for employers to insist that new recruits have had the jab. Employers will just need to be wary of concerns about discriminating against those that can’t have the jab on medical grounds (because of disability or pregnancy) and younger recruits who may not be eligible for the jab yet.

Our advice to employers is to take a persuasive approach with employees and encourage them to get vaccinated. Employers can do this by:

• Providing employees with access to accurate information about the vaccine;
• Allowing employees paid time off to attend vaccine appointments and paid sick leave for any side effects; and
• Perhaps assisting with travel arrangements for vaccine appointments.