Tribunal backs care home for sacking staff over Covid jab status
Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Well, we knew this was coming and this is the first of what I expect will be many cases in relation to Covid and any dismissal that took place during this time. As we all know, the rules during the Covid period were changing continually with who could claim payment and who could not and could you use a Covid payment as part of their notice pay, to name just a few! This case has now demonstrated that it was fair to dismiss care workers for turning down the Covid vaccine due to the companies ‘legitimate aim” and not due to their spiritual and philosophical beliefs and that any interference with human rights in this case was proportionate. We wait to see how many more cases rear their heads and what the outcome of those are now that they are appearing at Employment Tribunals.”
NEWS ARTICLE – Tribunal backs care home for sacking staff over Covid jab status :
In what is believed to be the first published case of its kind, an employment tribunal in Leeds has decided that care home bosses acted fairly when they fired several members of staff for turning down the Covid vaccine. Barchester Healthcare dismissed five healthcare workers for declining Covid-19 vaccinations without any medical exemption. The workers complained they turned down the vaccine due to their spiritual and philosophical beliefs, but a judge ruled the firm had the “legitimate aim” of “minimising the risk of death and serious illness” among residents and staff, and that such a move was “necessary in a democratic society.” Employment judge Neil Maidment recognised that the reason for sacking the workers, while “unusual,” was “genuine and substantial” and said the company “believed its policy of (subject to medical exemption) only employing vaccinated care home staff would save lives.” He said: “The tribunal concludes that any interference with human rights in the circumstances of this case was proportionate.”
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The Times
