Employment tribunal – employees not being fully vaccinated against COVID-19
The Employment team have recently been instructed to act on behalf of a care home, whose two former employees have brought Employment Tribunal proceedings against them in respect of their recent dismissal. They were dismissed on the grounds that they had not received a full course of an approved Covid-19 vaccination.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care were also included as respondents to the claims.
At the time of writing, there have been an estimated 127 similar claims nationwide. Proceedings have now been stayed for our client whilst the CQC and Government deal with the issue as a test case.
On 11 November 2021, it was made law under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 (SI 2021/891) all workers in CQC regulated care homes were required to be fully vaccinated, unless they were exempt under the regulations. This has since been revoked by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) (No.3) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/206).
This issue has received significant coverage in the press and unsurprisingly has been controversial. It will be interesting to see how this test case develops.
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*This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or any other professional advice.