There are fears bringing in vaccine passports into the work place could lead to a rise in discrimination
One in two workers say they're expecting their bosses to make getting a covid jab mandatory before they're allowed back into the officeOne in two workers say they're expecting their bosses to make getting a covid jab mandatory before they're allowed back into the office
Half of Britain’s workers will expect their bosses to demand a vaccine passport before they can return to their workplace, according to a new study of 5,000 British workers across various sectors by BrightHR.
It also found only 17% have had a conversation about their companies’ policy on vaccines, but over a third said they expect it will be mandatory.
A fifth of Brits admit they would fear for their health if their employers refused to make the vaccine mandatory for staff.
However, Abi Lynch an Associate Solicitor at employment law experts Forbes in Preston, said: "Employers do need to be careful to avoid introducing such policies because they could be considered to be discriminatory.
"Employers might find that employees doe issue claims for things such as pregnancy and maternity discrimination or race discrimination, age discrimination, you know only limited age groups of people who have actually been invited for the vaccines. Some workers as well may also choose not to take the vaccine because of a medical condition or because of their own religious beliefs."
Opinions on the introduction of mandatory vaccinations are split, while nationally a third think it would be reckless of their employer NOT to introduce a policy on vaccinations, almost two thirds say it is far too controlling for an employer to introduce such measures.
However, 45% said they worry that creating a ‘jabs for jobs’ policy would put unnecessary pressure on people who didn’t wish to be vaccinated. Over a third said they would worry about people who were not safe to have the vaccine pushing to get one to protect their income.
According to the research 1 in 10 (13%) don’t plan on taking up the vaccine offered to them due to concerns over side effects. Although they are not the only ones who worry about side effects, with two thirds of workers worried about taking time off if they develop side effects from their vaccine. This is of particular concern to hospitality workers, who for many have only just started to return to work. Over three quarters of staff working in hospitality would be concerned with taking time off if they were to experience side effects from the vaccine, followed by business leaders (68%).