All employers urged to consider Covid-19 tests for unvaccinated staff

Singapore

ALL employers are urged to consider adopting a "vaccination or regular testing" (VoRT) regime as company policy, though such a regime remains compulsory only for selected sectors, the tripartite partners said in an advisory on Monday afternoon.

From Oct 1, employees in sectors such as healthcare, eldercare, and food services, among others, are required to either be vaccinated or undergo regular testing, under the Ministry of Health's VoRT guidelines. The public service, as Singapore's largest employer, "will also lead by example" in implementing such a regime.

Beyond these sectors, all employers are urged to follow the example of the public service and consider adopting such a regime as company policy.

Employers may adopt differentiated workplace measures for vaccinated and unvaccinated staff, in consultation with unions if applicable.

For instance, if adopting the VoRT regime voluntarily, employers may subject unvaccinated employees to additional Covid-19 tests. This may take reference from the frequency for the VoRT regime: twice a week.

Employers may also require unvaccinated employees to undergo pre-event testing before participating in workplace events, or have reduced group sizes when unvaccinated employees take part in such events.

While employers may deploy unvaccinated staff in higher-risk activities with regular testing, they can also decide to redeploy them to roles with a lower risk of Covid-19 infection.

While medical costs that are "necessary and common for both vaccinated and unvaccinated employees" should be borne by employers, employers can require medically eligible but unvaccinated employees to bear additional costs that are only required for the unvaccinated. This includes the cost of Covid-19 tests, and additional leave required for treatment or serving stay-home notices.

Employers may also choose to exclude medically eligible but unvaccinated employees from medical benefits associated with Covid-19, such as insurance coverage.

The tripartite partners reiterated that "under no circumstances should an employer terminate or threaten to terminate the service of an employee on the basis of vaccination status alone", nor should they place employees on no-pay leave for an extended duration without mutual consent.

"However, employers may exercise their right to contractually terminate employment if unvaccinated employees do not comply with reasonable vaccination-differentiated workplace measures," they added.

All employers may ask employees for their vaccination status for business purposes, such as business continuity planning. Employers that adopt the VoRT regime can further require proof of vaccination.

Employers should urge all medically eligible employees to be vaccinated, educate their employees on vaccine safety and efficacy, and facilitate vaccination by granting paid time-off to do so, said the advisory. It also urged employees themselves to get vaccinated as soon as possible.