Paid time off for the Covid vaccine? Unsure what decision to make? Speak to an HR expert at the Hive Collaborative today.
ACAS have found that a quarter of British employers have not been giving their staff paid time off for Covid-19 vaccinations. Furthermore, they have no intention of doing so going forward. Is this the correct HR decision?
Back to normality?
At what time will Covid-19 rules and regulations fall into the same criteria as say getting a flu jab? At which point an employer should be reasonably allowed to ask staff to use their own time to get a Covid jab? The answer might be, when the pandemic ends.
The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. After 17 grueling and chaotic months, weary people are wondering: When will the pandemic finally end?
“Even among the scientific community, you would get really different answers,” says Rachael Piltch-Loeb, a researcher and fellow with the Emergency Preparedness Research, Evaluation & Practice Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “There is no one definition of what the end of a pandemic means.” Source: National Geographic.
Further ACAS Report Recommendations
Furthermore, a similar percentage are refusing to provide full company sick pay to staff who are off work sick due to vaccine side effects.
On a positive note, the arbitration service found that 59% have been giving staff paid time off. 4% have not been doing, but plan to do so going forward.
ACAS advise that employers should support staff to get the vaccine when it is offered. It is said that this support could include paying employees for time off for the Covid-19 vaccines, side-effects or illness associated with contracting the virus.
Acas Chief Executive Susan Clews said: “It’s in businesses best interests to have a vaccine policy that supports staff to take time off as fully vaccinated workers are less likely to need longer periods of time off work to recover from Covid-19.”
ACAS conclude by saying, paid time off should be given to staff to obtain the vaccination. This could be at the company sick pay rate.
While some organisations may have a review or ‘trigger’ point to keep track of sickness absence for their staff, employers could consider not counting vaccine-related time off sick as part of this absence record system, ACAS suggests.
Making the Right HR Decisions = A Happy and productive workforce.
Paul Deaves. Assoc. CIPD.
Managing Director.
Tel: 01352 781965 | Email: hello@hivecollaborative.co.uk
A member of the Professional Body for HR and People Development.
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