Private healthcare providers who fail to re-employ unvaccinated workers could face claims for unfair dismissal, an employment lawyer has warned.
The warning follows government’s confirmation that it would be removing the legal requirement for health and social care staff to be double jabbed from 15 March.
Back in January government announced its intention to revoke vaccination as a condition of deployment for Care Quality Commission regulated staff, including private healthcare workers, subject to consultation.
Following the consultation, where 90% of responses supported the removal of the legal requirement for health and social care staff to be double jabbed, the government confirmed it is now revoking the regulations.
But commenting on what this all means for private healthcare providers who have already let staff go or are in the process of doing so, Melanie Stancliffe, partner at Cripps Pemberton Greenish, told Health & Protection while providers could maintain the vaccination requirement, they run the risk that employees would be able to say that requirement is discriminating against them.
“The real concern for employers in the sector will be that employees who have lost their jobs will now claim that failing to re-employ them or revoking their dismissal if they are still in their notice period, is unfair or discriminatory,” Stancliffe said.
“It isn’t easy for businesses to change their approach overnight and this will put a lot of pressure on people teams who now have to undo the steps taken to comply with the change in the law in the first place,” Stancliffe concluded.