Will airlines be allowed to mandate vaccines for employees?
Giuseppe Carabetta
A Qantas plane. Source: AAP/Dan Himbrechts.
Airlines want you vaccinated. They want as many people as possible vaccinated. The sooner that happens, the sooner borders open and they can get back to profitability.
They also have reasons to want to protect both customers and staff from COVID-19. Qantas staff, for example, have been considering legal action over workplace transmissions.
Qantas has dangled the carrot of extra frequent flyer points for fully vaccinated passengers, plus ten “mega prizes” of a year’s free travel for familes. Virgin Australia has similar plans. It also has a scheme to encourage its workers to get vaccinated. This will reportedly include the chance to win extra annual leave.
Airline policies mandating vaccines will be a turbulent test of workplace rights theconversation.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theconversation.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Employers will be allowed to require workers to vaccinate against coronavirus, a workplace law expert says, despite assurances from the federal government the jab will be voluntary. As the vaccine s national rollout approaches, there are calls for greater clarity around the authority of businesses and rights of their employees. It comes after a Brisbane care worker who was terminated for refusing a flu jab launched an unfair dismissal case against her former employer. Zana Bytheway, executive director of employment rights legal centre JobWatch, said employers had a responsibility to provide a safe work environment. As part of fulfilling that obligation, they may require that workers are vaccinated at the company s expense.
Woman dismissed for refusing flu jab A woman who was told she couldn’t go into work after she refused a flu jab is now pursuing an unfair dismissal case.
Health by Kathryn Bermingham
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Subscriber only A care worker who lost her job after she refused a flu jab will be allowed to argue she was unfairly dismissed, the Fair Work Commission has ruled. Maria Corazon Glover, 64, refused a vaccination because of an allergic reaction she had 57 years ago, when she was a child living in the Philippines. Her case, which is yet to be heard, is expected to hinge on the legality of employers requiring that staff undergo vaccination.