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S’pore employers may ask staff who choose not to be vaccinated to pay for regular Covid-19 testing

2021-08-23 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - All employers have been urged to consider implementing a regime for existing employees and new hires to get vaccinated or undergo regular tests.

As part of efforts to boost vaccination rates, employers may also ask staff who are eligible but choose not to be vaccinated to pay for regular testing, and exclude them from medical benefits linked to Covid-19.

Employers should not terminate or threaten to terminate the service of an employee on the basis of vaccination status alone. But they can terminate an unvaccinated employee who does not comply with reasonable vaccination-differentiated workplace measures.

The latest guidelines came from Singapore’s tripartite partners on Monday afternoon (Aug 23).

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (Snef) said employers should follow the example set by the public service in putting in place the requirement.

The advisory supersedes a previous one released by the three partners in July, which states that employers may make vaccination a requirement for workers in higher-risk environments.

The tripartite partners said that the vaccinate or regular test regime will protect employees and make workplaces more resilient.

They added that employers can require medically eligible workers who are not vaccinated to bear additional costs under the regime.

For example, employers may recover from these employees Covid-19-related expenses, such as the cost of test kits and stay-home notice accommodations, that are incurred over and above those of vaccinated employees.

The tripartite partners said these expenses can be recovered either through salary deductions or requiring these employees to pay the relevant service provider directly.

In terms of leave, they said that unvaccinated employees may be discharged later from treatment, or may be served with longer periods of movement restrictions compared to vaccinated employees.

Thus, in such situations, employers can deduct the additional days served by a medically eligible but unvaccinated employee from the person’s leave entitlements.

“If leave entitlements have been exhausted, employers may require such an employee to go on no-pay leave,” said the tripartite partners.

Sectors subjected to the vaccinate or regular test regime from Oct 1 onwards include healthcare, eldercare and settings with children 12 years and below. Sectors that interact with customers in higher-risk mask-off settings, such as dining establishments, gyms and fitness studios, also have to implement the regime.