In Part 1 of this article, we looked at the legalities of mandatory Covid-19 vaccine policies. Here, we consider whether compulsory testing of employees for the coronavirus is allowed.
Testing of employees
In the event that employers cannot or do not introduce mandatory vaccination policies, employers may wish to consider regular, or even daily, mandatory testing of employees for Covid-19, thereby minimising the risk of transmission within the workplace.
There are currently two forms of test for Covid-19, namely the polymerase chain reaction or PCR test and the rapid SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test. Whilst the PCR test is considered substantially more reliable, it is impractical for workplace purposes given the lengthy time taken to obtain an outcome. In contrast, antigen tests reveal an outcome within 15 to 30 minutes and are substantially cheaper, but are less reliable, particularly in respect of false-negatives.