Our Head of Employment, David Bradley, joined discussions with Rachel Burden on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning to provide his legal expertise on the issues around a 'no jab, no job policy that some employers may wish to introduce.
On the show David discussed employer and employee rights when it comes to allowing employers to contractually insist that staff have the Covid-19 vaccine in order to continue working for their company and whether either party could take legal action should they refuse.
David went on to discuss employers managing the issues surrounding Covid-19, generally by creating the correct contractual environment. This would include issues relating to testing and enforced time off as well as vaccine take up. The caveat in relation to all the issues would be a reasonable approach taken by the employer, including taking into account genuine medical reasons for refusing the vaccine.
When discussing the employers rights to enforce this, David mentioned two issues, first, that an employer is obliged to create and maintain a safe work environment for employees and secondly the concept of reasonableness that runs through employment law generally. David said that the rights of the majority of workers, some feeling afraid or at risk working close to someone refusing the vaccine would be paramount in the minds of employers.
If you would like to listen to the show in full you can do so here, or if you would just like to listen to David’s full comments scroll to 20.02.
If you would like to discuss any of the issues mentioned in the show, then please get in touch with our Employment team either by emailing at info@ramsdens.co.uk or calling us on 01484 821 500 to speak to a member of our team.