Teachers, GPs, nurses, midwives and aged-care workers all required to be vaccinated under imminent Government mandate
On 11 October 2021, the Prime Minister and Health Minister announced that they would be requiring vaccinations for certain roles in two key sectors – health and education. To be a legal obligation, the mandate will need to be included in the COVID-19 vaccination order which already requires vaccinated staff in border, MIQ and other high-risk roles. The actual wording of the new mandate has not been released yet (as of 13 October 2021), but is expected imminently.
The Ministry of Health indication is that:
- School teachers, early childhood education workers, and support people who have contact with children and students must receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by 15 November 2021 and must be fully vaccinated by 1 January 2022; and
- Certain workers in the health and disability sector must receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by 30 October 2021 and must be fully vaccinated by 1 December 2021. That will likely include GPs, nurses, midwives, aged care workers and in-home care providers.
The explanation for the more relaxed timeframe for education is to align with the school year.
What are the next steps for employers?
The mandate does not allow employers much time to understand their obligations, consult with staff, and make some hard decisions. It is important to remember that the mandate does not mean employers are exempt from their duties of good faith and the requirement to follow a fair process. You are obliged to look at any medical exemptions, redeployment, or ways of working which would take the role outside of the definitions in the COVID-19 Order (if possible).
Other steps
Our experience is that the majority of unvaccinated staff are not full-blown “anti-vaxxers” but rather are just nervous about something they read online or heard from a neighbour. We recommend providing practical and accurate information to staff to help them make a sensible decision.
We also recommend that employers allow staff paid time off to get vaccinated. It is worth noting that this pragmatic step is mandatory under the current form of the COVID-19 order and is likely to be extended to the new order affecting the education and health sectors.
If, after taking those informal steps you still have staunch hold-outs, you will need to start a formal process which may result in those staff losing their employment.
How can we help?
WRMK Lawyers has Northland’s largest team of employment law specialists. We are currently helping large and small organisations affected by this mandate. If you need some help or guidance, please give one of us a call or contact your usual WRMK lawyer for advice. You can view our Employment Law team here.
WRMK Lawyers takes all reasonable care to make sure that the information in this article is up-to-date and accurate at today’s date. It is necessarily general information and not intended as legal advice to be relied upon.
Our thanks to Laura Lee and Simon Davies-Colley for writing this article.
Get in touch with your question now
RELATED PEOPLE
