All S’pore employers urged to require unvaccinated staff to be tested regularly for Covid-19: Tripartite partners

• A guideline for employers on how to keep their workplaces safe from Covid-19 has been released by MOM, MOH, NTUC and SNEF
• They urged employers to adopt a “vaccinate or regular test” for their workers as a means to keep the workplace free from Covid-19
• Under the guidelines, it said that unvaccinated employees should bear any costs that only affect them
• But “under no circumstances” should an employer terminate or threaten to terminate the service of an employee on the basis of vaccination status alone

SINGAPORE — All employers are urged to adopt a regime that either sees their workers fully vaccinated against Covid-19, or requires unvaccinated employees to undergo regular testing to keep their workplaces free from the coronavirus, an advisory from Singapore’s tripartite partners stated on Monday (Aug 23).

The advisory added that in such scenarios, some Covid-19-related costs such as test kits incurred by unvaccinated employees who are eligible for vaccination should be borne by them.

However, it said that “under no circumstances” should an employer terminate or threaten to terminate the service of an employee on the basis of vaccination status alone.

Employers should also not place employees on no-pay leave for an extended duration without their mutual consent in writing.

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

The advisory was issued by the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Health (MOH), National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers Federation.

Although the proportion of Singaporeans that has been fully vaccinated stood at 78 per cent as of Sunday, the tripartite group noted that Singapore needs to "continue to expand our vaccine coverage to optimise our resilience against Covid-19".

To that end, the Government has announced that from Oct 1, employees in selected sectors that include healthcare, food-and-beverage and fitness will be required to be vaccinated or undergo regular testing.

Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower, said in a Facebook post related to the advisory that "the public service, as the largest employer in Singapore, is leading by example by implementing the 'vaccinate or regular test' regime".

"The tripartite partners urge all employers to consider adopting the regime as a company policy for existing employees and new hires," he said.

The advisory stated that employers may adopt differentiation measures, in consultation with unions if applicable, between vaccinated and unvaccinated staff members.

The following is a summary of the guidelines.

TESTING FREQUENCY

Under the guidelines, employers may adopt a "vaccinate or regular test" regime on a voluntary basis and subject unvaccinated employees to more Covid-19 tests, compared to vaccinated employees.

The latest statement said that the frequency of testing unvaccinated workers could take reference from the frequency under MOH’s guidelines for the regime.

For example, it could be twice a week for unvaccinated employees in selected sectors.

A test done under the existing “fast and easy testing” or the “rostered routine testing” regime also counts towards this requirement.

WORK AND SOCIAL EVENTS

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

This is especially so for those involving mask-off activities, in line with the prevailing MOH guidelines.

STAFF DEPLOYMENT

Non-vaccinated staff members may continue to be involved in higher-risk activities with regular testing, and employers may also decide whether to redeploy them to another job with a lower risk of coronavirus infection.

Such a decision should be commensurate with the employee’s experience and skills, as per existing redeployment policies.

“If there are no existing redeployment policies within the organisation, the terms and conditions for redeployment should be mutually agreed between employers and employees,” the advisory stated.

OTHER MEASURES

The advisory added that employers can also implement other workplace measures, though they must be “prepared to justify to employees or the Government, or both” that they are reasonable and necessary for business operations and to better protect the health and safety of all employees.

It added that the union and the employer may mutually agree on other vaccination-differentiated workplace measures.

COSTS

The advisory noted that “some costs are necessary and common” for both vaccinated and unvaccinated employees.

In such cases, those costs should be borne by the employer. 

In cases where costs are required only for unvaccinated employees, employers may require medically eligible but unvaccinated employees to bear such added costs as follows:

• Covid-19-related expenses – These include the costs of test kits and accommodation for stay-home notice, which can be recovered either through salary deductions or requiring employees pay the service provider directly

• Leave – The advisory noted that unvaccinated employees may be discharged later from treatment, or may be served with a longer stay-home notice compared to vaccinated employees. In such situations, employers may deduct these days from an individual’s existing leave entitlement

• Medical benefits — Employers may choose to exclude these employees from medical benefits associated with Covid-19

The advisory said that these points do not include employees who are medically ineligible for messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines such as those by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

PREPARING THE WORKPLACE

The advisory said that employers who adopt the "vaccinate or regular test" regime as a company policy should communicate “clearly and in advance to affected employees and jobseekers” about the vaccination-differentiated workplace measures and any associated costs that employees may have to bear.

MONITORING OF EMPLOYEES

For the purposes of business continuity, employers may ask employees for their vaccination status, the advisory stated.

Furthermore, employers that adopt the "vaccinate or regular test" regime may also require employees to produce proof of vaccination.

Employees who refuse to do so would be treated as unvaccinated for the purposes of the vaccination-differentiated measures, and they will have to bear the relevant costs.  

Employers should urge all their medically eligible employees who have yet to be vaccinated to do so, and implement public education programmes on vaccine safety and efficacy for their employees.

The advisory added that employers should facilitate vaccination by granting paid time-off to employees for Covid-19 vaccination, and extra paid sick leave that is beyond contractual or statutory requirement, in the “rare event” that the employee experiences a vaccine-related adverse event.