With a view to minimizing conflicts between employers and employees over anti-endemic measures, the government proposes to amend the EO to make clear the following:
1. An employer who dismisses an employee who is unable to attend work due to the employee’s failure to comply with the vaccine pass rules* would not be regarded as having made an unreasonable dismissal.
2. An employer who dismisses an employee who is unable to attend work due to compulsory quarantine, or due to a restriction-testing declaration requiring the employee to remain in their premises and undergo compulsory testing, would be deemed to have made an unreasonable dismissal.
3. An employer would be required to pay statutory sickness allowance to an employee who is subject to compulsory quarantine or a restriction-testing declaration and who has been issued with a quarantine order or medical note issued by the Department of Health.
As the amendments are still being discussed, we will only know the full scope of the law, including any possible exemptions or how the amendments might interplay with other provisions which provide for protection against termination, once the final text of the law has been released.
*Broadly...
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