Mandatory vaccinations for care home staff

What about mandatory vaccinations for care home staff?

Another important area of change with COVID-19 is in relation to vaccination status for health and care staff.

The Government has confirmed that, as of Tuesday 15th March 2022, the requirement for health and care staff to receive COVID-19 vaccinations will be lifted.

Furthermore, the legal requirement for health and care staff to be double jabbed from Friday 1st April 2022 has been removed.

However, the Health and Social Secretary urges that, for the minority of health and care workers still unvaccinated, they have a professional responsibility to get vaccinated.

To read the full press release, click here.

The CIPD has published some initial guidance as to what this means moving forwards:

• Employers could still encourage staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19 but employers cannot mandate vaccinations.
• The change will not affect the legality of dismissals of unvaccinated staff in care homes during the period in which it was mandatory, but in ongoing appeals against dismissal, the employer should consider that vaccination will not be and/or no longer is compulsory.
• Whether employers/employees can return to their pre-deployment role is dependent upon their contractual agreement.
• Whether the employer should have a vaccination policy to explain their (and the Government’s) standpoint on vaccination, with a voluntary approach listed in outlining its objectives.
• Employers need to consider the data protection obligations of storing COVID-related information, as vaccination status falls into special category personal data
• The need to update risk assessments to refer to vaccinations.

For employers attempting their own mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, there are many risks and restrictions (e.g., potential for discrimination or unfair dismissal claims, the impact on recruitment and retention, equality impact assessments, requirements around international travel).

You must also consider what exceptions would be available for employees who cannot accept the vaccine due to medical or belief reasons.

While requiring new recruits to be vaccinated is slightly less risky as there is no risk of unfair dismissal, there is still the chance of direct or indirect discrimination claims, and as it is sensitive data, it may be deemed inappropriate to ask at interview.

There are also plenty of alternatives to mandatory vaccinations that should be considered first (e.g., individual exceptions, home working, lateral flow testing, evidence of natural immunity, wearing masks).

Ways to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations could be to allow paid time off for COVID vaccinations, and for those protected under the Equality Act, this time off could be seen as a reasonable adjustment.

You could also provide the usual rate of pay for employees on sick leave with vaccine-related side effects.

You can publicise the benefits of vaccination through staff engagement and communication, such as running awareness campaigns, offering safety data and counteracting misinformation and conspiracy theory spread.

However, ensure that any incentives offered do not discriminate against employees with protected characteristics who have reasons for refusing vaccination.

And keep copies of these communications to ensure you have evidence that steps have been taken to comply with health and safety.

There are many considerations to be made with the new and updated regulations around COVID-19 vaccination status.

It is important that employers consider each case individually and listen to the concerns of their staff before looking into alternative options.

For more information, with full details into vaccination status for health and care staff, view the CIPD’s vaccination and testing FAQs released on Wednesday 9th February 2022, and the COVID-19 vaccination guide for employers from Monday 28th February 2022.