Employers could pay workers to get the Covid-19 vaccination

Wednesday, 27 January 2021

Employers could offer to pay workers to get the free Covid-19 vaccination, if it required taking time off work.

The first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine is due to reach New Zealand by April and will be rolled out to the general public from mid-late 2021, after border staff and essential health workers.

Businesses in the United States have incentivised employees and contract workers to get vaccinated by paying them a one-off bonus.

The first batch of the Pfizer vaccine is due to reach NZ by April.

Dundas Street Employment Lawyers partner Susan Hornsby-Geluk said it was possible New Zealand employers could follow suit.

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Dundas Street Employment Lawyers partner Susan Hornsby-Geluk says employers wanting to incentivise staff to get vaccinated would likely be well-received.

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“There is a possibility that employees whose medical conditions or religious beliefs mean that they cannot get vaccinated may claim discrimination or disadvantage, however this risk is probably low and if employers want to provide incentives for the greater good, this is likely to be well-received,” Hornsby-Geluk said.

However, she said the more difficult question was whether employers could make the vaccination mandatory and refuse to allow employees to come to work if they have not been vaccinated.

“Given that most New Zealanders have attended work up until now without the protection of a vaccine it would be difficult for employers to now argue that this was a health and safety requirement,” she said.

“However if circumstances changed, such as another outbreak or the borders were opened up, the risk profile in certain sectors may justify making vaccination mandatory.”

E tū negotiation specialist Joe Gallagher says paying staff for hours taken off work poses an ethical dilemma as companies could be seen as “preying” on people’s economic vulnerability to satisfy their health and safety concerns.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Government could green-light a Covid-19 vaccine as soon as next week.

The first batch of the Pfizer vaccine was due to arrive before the end of March in order to vaccinate those working at the border, but the country’s medicine regulator MedSafe had not approved it yet.

The Government has four pre-purchase agreements secured to date.

It had bought 750,000 courses from Pfizer, 5 million courses from Janssen, 3.8 million courses from AstraZeneca and 5.36 million from Novavax.

E tū negotiation specialist Joe Gallagher said paying staff for hours taken off work posed an ethical dilemma as companies could be seen as “preying” on people’s economic vulnerability to satisfy their health and safety concerns.

“Incentivising people will probably get a lot of people to get vaccinated because a lot of people are in pretty dire situations economically,” Gallagher said.

But Gallagher said the flipside of the issue was that employers would be compensating staff who wanted to get vaccinated for taking time off work to queue up.

Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett says he is confident businesses will compensate staff if they have to take time off work to get vaccinated.

“It might be better framed as compensation for getting vaccinated to get the company safe.”

Gallagher said the Government should look at offering a subsidy to businesses or enabling workers to take sick leave pay to get the vaccination.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said it was too early to comment on specifics of the vaccination roll out.

Hipkins said some might be workplace-based and others could require people to travel.

“The shape these ultimately take could influence what supports might be provided,” he said.

“Planning is progressing well and once we have the first shipment of vaccine in the country we will start a major marketing and PR campaign to encourage New Zealanders to accept a vaccine and reassure them of its safety.

“The campaign will be both broad and targeted. It will complement a huge planned effort to reach into and work alongside each community and sector to drive maximum uptake.”

Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett felt confident that businesses would be open to compensating staff for getting vaccinated if they had to take time off work, just as many employers paid for the annual flu jab.

“It depends on how the Covid-19 vaccinations are rolled out. As soon as we understand what the arrangements are going to be, whether it means people will have to go to their GPs or whether they could get it at work, employers will make the call.

“But I’m confident businesses will look to facilitate getting the vaccination and not be disadvantaged.”

Barnett said the long-term benefits of vaccinating staff far outweighed the cost of compensation.