Insight

What role will employers play in the vaccination of our country?

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Whether you are trying to encourage your employees to come back to the workplace or looking for further ways to decrease the risk to your people currently in the work environment, COVID-19 vaccination and testing policies are becoming a hot topic for all employers.

When considering the COVID-19 health risks people may face in your organisation, it is important to be well informed with accurate information. The need to consult has never been more pertinent. 

What can you do as an employer in this space?

  • Determine who needs to be consulted with and in what manner 
  • Engage with your people; ensure the process is thorough and treated as a genuine opportunity for feedback and engagement
  • Open communication; ongoing dialogue should occur over a reasonable period of time 
  • Educate; appropriate training and education to provide employees with current information and business positions and policies related to vaccinations and ongoing COVID-19 control practices 

Engaging with people assists with implementation of processes and policies. Offering in depth consideration of how the situation affects individual employees can assist with development of policies. For added support, linking in with a medical opinion can be useful in finding a fair solution that works for everyone. 

What other risks should be considered when implementing ways to protect your people?

  • Policy development; consultation process on COVID-19 vaccinations in the workplace. Considering how a COVID-19 policy will interact and form part of an employer’s broader approach and procedures to health, safety & wellbeing. 
  • Travel policies and guidelines; ensuring the information is clear and accessible to your people.
  • Wellbeing; it is a prime time to review what support and education you have on offer to your people to support their wellbeing at work, but also in their personal lives .
  • Returning to the workplace; ergonomics, safety training refreshers, physical and psychological conditioning understood and managed, as employees may have spent a considerable period away from the workplace.
  • COVID-19 complacency; as more employees are being fully vaccinated, employers need to be mindful of the risk of complacency and ensure compliance and forward planning is considered.

In summary, to ensure a transition back to a normal working environment employers need to actively engage with their people. Seek feedback, treat any questions or concerns seriously and offer additional supports as required. A considered, careful approach will benefit all stakeholders and employees for a safe return to work.