Safety trumps choice: Fear to choose between jobs and jabs heightens

As concerns over mandatory vaccination policies in the workplace and fear of being forced to choose between jobs and jabs heightens, experts say it has become a debate of constitutional rights versus employers’ legal duty.

Discovery Life recently announced that Covid vaccinations were mandatory for all staff from the start of next year, while private education provider Curro said they would require all staff to be vaccinated by the end of the year.

Labour Law consultant Tony Healy said Discovery and Curro were relying on the recent amended consolidated direction on occupational health and safety directive issued by Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi.

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This addressed various workplace Covid-related issues but annexure C acknowledged there were would be circumstances where employers can impose a mandatory workplace Covid vaccination policy.

Healy said if employers had a work environment that was high-risk for transmission, or infections were unavoidable, then they could impose mandatory vaccine policy because they had a legal duty to maintain a safe and healthy working environment.

“The problem with that is the constitutional rights,” Healy said.

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However, those rights could be limited if it was reasonable and justifiable to do so.

“When an employer imposes mandatory a vaccination policy, what they are saying is it’s reasonable and justifiable to limit those constitutional rights at work in the interest of public health and safety at the workplace.”