Employment consultant who skipped her booster was moved to unpaid leave, then dismissed
An employer has been ordered to pay more than $8,000 to a former employee after stopping her pay while it weighed her dismissal over a COVID-19 booster refusal. The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) still found the dismissal itself was justified.
The employee worked as an employment consultant in the company's Nelson office from 2021, helping job seekers referred by the Ministry of Social Development and ACC find work.
In October 2021, the company told staff it expected all employees to be vaccinated under the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021. The employee received two doses that year. She then decided not to get the booster due on 4 April 2022 and did not tell her employer.
The employer, which conceded it had no system for monitoring staff vaccination deadlines, found out in May 2022. In a letter dated 2 June, its national manager barred the employee from meeting clients, directed her to work from home and set a vaccination deadline of 9 June.
After the employee's lawyer raised a personal grievance, the manager wrote on 10 June that "there are no alternative roles for an unboosted individual" and deemed her on leave without pay.
A lawyer-led meeting in July, which the ERA described as "fractious, discursive and inconclusive," was followed by her dismissal on 19 July 2022.
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