How Fair are the Rules for Unvaccinated Workers?

How Fair are the Rules for Unvaccinated Workers?

How Fair are the Rules for Unvaccinated Staff?

What are the Rules?

Although most employers in the UK have not made Covid vaccinations mandatory, there are still claims that unvaccinated employees are being discriminated against in the workplace, but how fair are the rules?

Since November 2021, it has been compulsory for all staff working in care homes overseen by the Care Quality Commission to be fully vaccinated. The staff in these homes are in close contact with those who are most vulnerable to the virus and being vaccinated will help to protect service users from a potentially fatal disease.

However, should frontline care and NHS staff, who have worked so hard during a global pandemic, now risk losing their jobs because of their choice about the vaccine?

Advantages and Disadvantages of Recruitment Agencies

NHS Staff

There are plans to make it mandatory for all frontline NHS staff to be fully vaccinated by Spring 2022. NHS key workers who are hesitant about getting the Covid jab argue that it doesn’t matter whether they have the vaccine or not because it doesn’t affect others, and those who are fully jabbed can still catch the virus either way. However, the UK Health Security Agency has confirmed that being fully vaccinated will help to control the catching and spreading of the virus.

Some NHS professionals are even willing to lose their jobs if it means they don’t have to get the vaccine. There are those who believe that the government is shaming its’ staff into receiving unwanted medical treatment, and they shouldn’t be made to feel less valuable to the NHS just because they have reservations about getting the jab.

Other Industries

And it’s not just the healthcare industry that’s being accused of persecuting its unvaccinated staff, large retailers such as Ikea and Next have cut sick pay for those who aren't vaccinated if they need to self-isolate due to Covid; though it’s argued that this is just to save on the costs already caused by the pandemic, rather than a political move.

John Lewis have taken a stand to maintain their Sick Pay for self-isolating staff whether they are vaccinated or not, stating, “We just don’t believe it’s right to create a link between a partner’s vaccination status and the pay they receive.” (The Guardian, 2022).

What do you think? Should unvaccinated staff be treated differently in order to protect others? Or is it wrong to force people to go against their beliefs by threatening job loss or pay cuts?

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