In a second recent ruling dealing with Covid in the workplace, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has ruled once again that suspending an employee for refusing to be vaccinated was fair and in line with the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Commissioner Petrus Venter ruled that the Act compelled employers to provide safe workplaces, and the requirement to vaccinate was in the interests of the health and safety of all employees.
Gideon Kok, a security officer at Ndaka Security Services, which provides security for Sasol Ltd in Sasolburg, was suspended after he refused to be vaccinated on religious grounds.
He was given the option of providing a weekly Covid test, but he only did this a few times. He then refused because he had to pay for the testing himself. He was suspended in November last year.
Kok claimed this was an unfair labour practice and that the requirement that he be vaccinated contravened his rights to freedom and security.
In his ruling, Commissioner Venter said Kok had been instructed to only return to work after he had been vaccinated, or when he submitted his weekly test result.
Evidence during the hearing was that Ndaka, in terms of directives by the Minister of Employment and Labour, had undertaken Covid risk assessments during which Kok had been identified as an employee who needed to be vaccinated.
This was because he shared an office on site at Sasol with ten other employees and worked in close contact with others.
Kok...
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