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Officials of the Ministry of Labour are investigating reports that two more local companies have issued vaccine mandates to their employees.
Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations Colin Jordan said tonight while he has second-hand information that telecommunications company Digicel and regional oil firm Rubis Caribbean had sent correspondence to their employees, he has no official documentation on which his ministry can act.
Jordan said the Labour Department will therefore have to investigate the authenticity of media reports so his officers would be better placed to deal with the matter.
He said while the department was in a position last week to write to Hill Milling and Lionel C Hill Supermarket group of companies advising them to immediately withdraw their memo mandating staff to be vaccinated by September 30 or be fired, this was not the case with Rubis and Digicel.
“You hear about those things, but in terms of an actual document that you can look into, investigate and then make a [decision] on…so I am asking my labour department to check on those two to see if anybody had approached us on it or if there is any official documentation out there that we can use to fathom out what is happening,” the minister told Barbados TODAY.
The minister also said that once the documentation has been seen, the labour department would then have to speak with the employer before giving them directions on their actions or advising them to adhere to the Employment (Prevention of Discrimination) Act 2020 which, among other things, prohibits discrimination on the grounds of a person’s medical condition.
Hill’s Chief Executive Officer of the group Richard Ashby who last week rejected the Labour Department’s advice to withdraw his memo, could not be reached tonight to say if his ultimatum given to the two unvaccinated workers to submit vaccine certificates by payday last weekend had been complied with.
Minister Jordan said on Monday the ball was now in the court of the affected workers of Hill Milling and Lionel C Hill Supermarket to take legal action against their employer if they so desire.
“We don’t just do it [write an employer] based on the documentation. The labour department would have actually contacted management at Hill and spoken to them. So we don’t just hear something and fly off and write something,” he explained.
Reports suggest that one of the companies has outlined plans to restrict unvaccinated workers from using certain areas in the office, insisting they get permission to be there.
There are also reports that from December 1, staff members have to produce negative PCR tests they will have to pay for.
Chief executive officer Mauricio Nicholls is quoted as saying in a memo to the employees across the Eastern Caribbean: “As you will see in the new guidelines, we have adopted different rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated employees. For the purpose of determining which rules apply to you, we consider partially vaccinated employees to be unvaccinated.
“Authorised employees will be required to observe all protocols for unvaccinated employees. If an unvaccinated employee fails to request approval to work at the office or work location and does not inform their supervisor that he/she is not vaccinated, the employee will be subject to disciplinary action.”
As part of the new measures, only vaccinated employees have the option to work in the office, without approval, but must submit their certificate of vaccination or be treated as unvaccinated.
The memo went on to state: “Between September 15 and November 30, unvaccinated employees must have approval to attend work at their office or work location from the supervisor with the provision that the company could request a negative COVID test prior to granting any approval.
“Unvaccinated employees are not permitted to use meeting rooms, kitchens and dining rooms except when there is no one else occupying these areas. Unvaccinated employees are not encouraged to have their meals at work,” according to the document.
Such employees must wear masks supplied by the company at all times “while at the office or work location without exception”.
Employees are also mandated to have a negative test taken not more than72 hours before turning up for work. This goes into force every Monday from December 1.
“If an employee cannot be vaccinated due to a medical reason or condition, they should inform the human resources department and provide a letter from a medical doctor stating the reason or condition. Should you have any concerns, please discuss with your supervisor or with human resources,” the letter said.
With regards to Digicel, all of its staff in Barbados and across the rest of the Caribbean and Central America must be vaccinated by October 15.
The estimated 4,000 workers are required to get the injection by October 15, 2021 or submit to a negative PCR test every two weeks.
The correspondence dated September 29 states that the science related to the vaccine illustrates that it is the best way to safeguard health and prevent the worse impact of the disease.
The Digicel management stated that with the essential nature of the services the company provides, it takes the health of employees and customers seriously.
Workers who are not vaccinated by the specified date will be mandated to present a negative PCR test which was taken 72 hours before submission.
This test must be taken every two weeks and will be done at the employee’s expense.
Digicel has sought to make it clear that Antigen tests would not be accepted.(emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb)
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