Health and care sectors apart, I was surprised to read how many organisations told a recent survey that they were planning to introduce vaccine mandates for staff.
The imposition of such a practice criterion or policy could lead to claims of indirect discrimination, resulting in a need for employers to show that the rule is a proportionate way of achieving a legitimate aim. Employers usually have no difficulty identifying legitimate aims, but proportionality depends on the particular circumstances of each case.
A Tribunal may find a vaccination mandate proportionate in one case, but not in another, so we will all be watching any reported cases to see the factors that sway a Tribunal one way or the other. However given the backlogs in Tribunals at the moment, and that settlement agreements may be a preferred alternative to resolving differences, we may be waiting a long time!
The majority of HR directors have said they will require staff to be vaccinated against Covid, research has suggested. A survey of 400 HR directors, commissioned by Indeed Flex, found seven in 10 (70 per cent) were planning to implement vaccine mandates, including one in five (22 per cent) who said jabs would be mandatory for all workers regardless of any potential exemptions. Just under half (48 per cent) of respondents said they would require all staff to be vaccinated excluding those with a medical exemption.
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/news/articles/seven-in-ten-hrds-mandating-staff-covid-vaccinations-poll-finds
