Auckland businesses urge mandate of “no jab, no job” regulation

Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Michael Barnett said 90% of small-and-medium enterprises that responded to the group’s latest survey endorsed mandatory workplace vaccination.

“We have received legal advice that businesses could demand their employees are all vaccinated based on the likelihood and consequences of COVID exposure and spread to colleagues, customers and the community,” he said, adding that “… business can’t just demand mandatory vaccination without testing it legally and that would be costly and drawn out”.

Heart of the City – the business association for Auckland’s city centre – has called for targeted support for pandemic-hit businesses, criticising the government for being “asleep at the wheel”, said its chief executive Viv Beck.

Barnett said, “Business needs clarity, and (the) government should help businesses help themselves by endorsing and enabling mandatory vaccination to provide safe and healthy workplace environments.

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“If an employer determines that there is a high health and safety risk of an employee having the virus, being exposed to it, or spreading it to others, it is reasonable to require that employees who perform the work are vaccinated. No employer wants to be responsible for a community outbreak that could cause serious harm or be fatal,” according to The Guardian.