Weekend Links, 2-3 October 2021!

In continuation of the conversation from few days ago, here’s the latest update from Fairwork:

Can an employer require an employee to be vaccinated?

Employers can only require their employees to be vaccinated where:

a specific law (such as a state or territory public health order) requires an employee to be vaccinated (see COVID-19 vaccinations: legislation and public health orders)

the requirement is permitted by an enterprise agreement, other registered agreement or employment contract (see Agreements or contracts relating to vaccinations), or

it would be lawful and reasonable for an employer to give their employees a direction to be vaccinated, which is assessed on a case-by-case basis (see Lawful and reasonable directions to get vaccinated).

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One or more of these circumstances can apply when an employer is requiring an employee to be vaccinated. For example, an employer could rely on a state public health order that requires their employee to be vaccinated to give the employee a lawful and reasonable direction not to work unless they are vaccinated.  

Not sure how to read the last chapter

Looking at the second bullet point (link available on FWC site) it states:

Agreements or contracts relating to vaccinations

Some employment contracts or agreements may contain terms relating to vaccinations, including COVID-19 vaccinations. Employers and employees should check to see if any terms apply to COVID-19 vaccinations (for example, a term relating only to flu vaccinations won’t apply to COVID-19 vaccinations).

And scrolling further down the lates FWC update from the 1. Oct. it states following:

When undertaking this case-by-case assessment [for mandatory waxing; emphasis by yours truly DjenkA], it may also be helpful as a general guide to divide work into 4 broad tiers:

• Tier 1 work, where employees are required as part of their duties to interact with people with an increased risk of being infected with coronavirus (for example, employees working in hotel quarantine or border control). 
• Tier 2 work, where employees are required to have close contact with people who are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of coronavirus (for example, employees working in health care or aged care).
• Tier 3 work, where there is interaction or likely interaction between employees and other people such as customers, other employees or the public in the normal course of employment (for example, stores providing essential goods and services).
• Tier 4 work, where employees have minimal face-to-face interaction as part of their normal employment duties (for example, where they are working from home).

A workplace may have a mix of employees, with different employees performing work in different tiers, all of which could change over time.

The coronavirus pandemic doesn’t automatically make it reasonable for employers to direct employees to be vaccinated against the virus.

An employer’s direction to employees performing Tier 1 or Tier 2 work is more likely to be reasonable, given the increased risk of employees being infected with coronavirus, or giving coronavirus to a person who is particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of coronavirus.

An employer’s direction to employees performing Tier 4 work is unlikely to be reasonable, given the limited risk of transmission of the coronavirus.

For employees performing Tier 3 work:

• where no community transmission of coronavirus has occurred for some time in the area where the employer is located, a direction to employees to be vaccinated is in most cases less likely to be reasonable
• where community transmission of COVID-19 is occurring in an area, and an employer is operating a workplace in that area that needs to remain open to provide essential goods and services, a direction to employees to receive a vaccination is more likely to be reasonable.

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Interesting times.
Cannot wait for Tuesday to slap above points to my employer and see what comes

Sorry, further links had to be removed but available on respective sites.
2 links per post is really low to substantiate a conversation

Some businesses have already announced an intention to refuse access to patrons unvaccinated against Covid-19.  

Having recently reread Viruses, Plagues and History (1998) by Michael B. Oldstone of the Scripps Research Institute; your correspondent would be more concerned about patrons unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-1, measles, all of the haemorrhagic fevers, polio, bubonic plague, yellow fever, hantavirus and smallpox—they’re terrifying. There aren’t vaccines for some of them. 

Measles is much more contagious than Covid-19, about as deadly and complications can be profound. Before a measles vaccine in 1963 it killed 2,500,000+ million people a year and permanently disabled more; mostly aged under 5. Though off a historically very low base, measles deaths have increased by 50% since 2016. To protect the children only patrons vaccinated against measles should be permitted. 

Yellow fever is more deadly for people not of African genetic origin. It is only reasonably necessary to ban Caucasian and Asian people unvaccinated against yellow fever. That follows the science. If the section 48 public health exemption did apply, it would also follow the law.. 

Smallpox is eradicated, so nobody is vaccinated against that these days, but some bodies buried in thawing permafrost may still harbour the virus. You cannot be too safe when it comes to something that nasty. 

Limiting access for the unvaxed to public places will likely breach the Disability Discrimination Act