More than one in five employers plan to implement a ‘no jab no job’ policy in the year ahead for both new and existing staff, research has found, despite Covid restrictions ending earlier this year.
A YouGov poll of 1,074 senior decision makers, conducted for Acas at the end of March, found 22 per cent of employers wanted to make Covid 19 vaccination a condition of employment for new staff.
Similarly, 21 per cent said they wanted to make vaccination mandatory for existing employees.
Susan Clews, chief executive of Acas, cautioned employers that mandatory vaccines was a “very tricky area of employment law” and said it was “always best to support staff to get the vaccine rather than insisting that they get it”.
“It’s a good idea for employers to get legal advice before bringing in a vaccine policy,” she added.
This was echoed by Jules Quinn, employment partner at King & Spalding, who advised that mandatory vaccine policies could lead to challenges of discriminatory conduct.
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Individuals with underlying health conditions, pregnant workers and members of the BAME community are among the groups likely to be disproportionately affected by any vaccine mandate, and could seek to claim indirect discrimination as a result, says Quinn.
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