Unvaccinated workers in Singapore could lose their jobs

As a last resort, employers in Singapore could terminate the employment of their unvaccinated workers if they are unable to perform their job as a result of their “inability to be at the workplace” from January 1 next year, highlighted the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in an updated advisory on workplace settings.  

Employers could also place unvaccinated workers on no-pay leave, or redeploy them to suitable jobs which can be done from home, with remuneration to commensurate with the responsibilities of the alternative jobs. 

“As the vast majority of vaccinated employees eventually return to the workplace more frequently, the prolonged absence of the unvaccinated employees from the workplace may affect their individual performance as well as negatively impact team or organisational performance,” it said. 

For workers who are unvaccinated due to medical ineligibility, they should be allowed to work from home if they are able to do so, but “their absence from the workplace should not affect assessment of their performance”, said MOM. The health ministry also suggested that companies redeploy such workers to work from home if possible. 

READ: 13,000 workers in Singapore still unvaccinated

Companies can request that their employees show their vaccination status through their TraceTogether app and token, their original physical vaccination card or the Healthhub app. Workers who refuse to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status will be treated as unvaccinated.