As more people receive the COVID-19 vaccination there are various issues employers must consider. 

The vaccination programme across the UK is well underway with reports that over 23 million vaccinations have been administered by 8 March 2021. This date also marked the first step in the Government’s roadmap with the re-opening of schools across the country. For a summary of the roadmap and our initial thoughts on the impact for businesses, you can access our article here.

In January 2021, we considered whether employers could mandate the vaccine in the workplace, which was later a topic that received widespread press coverage as a result of companies such as Pimlico Plumbers announcing their ‘no jab no job’ policies relating to new recruits. However, the general view remains that employers would not be able to mandate the vaccine amongst existing staff without real risks. Our thoughts on this topic were covered in a previous article that can be accessed here.

In any event, employers are advised to implement vaccination policies to provide information and reassurance, and to encourage employees to take the vaccination as soon as eligible.

Time off relating to vaccinations

Vaccination policies should include the employer’s position in respect of time off and pay to attend vaccination appointments and what flexibility is to be offered around this.

Whilst there is no legal obligation on employers to pay for time off for employees to receive the vaccination during working time, ACAS suggests that paying staff their usual rate of pay for these appointments could be an effective means of encouraging employees to be vaccinated.

However, employers would be advised to cap the number of appointments for which full pay will be received, to avoid exploitation of such policies.

What about employees who are off sick as a result of side effects of the vaccine?

Like most vaccinations, it has been reported that the two vaccines available in the UK can cause side effects in some individuals, which in most cases are likely to be mild and short-term. Reported side effects include, pain and tenderness in the arm, fatigue, headaches, mild flu-like symptoms and/or fever. Therefore, in the majority of cases it is unlikely that employees will need to be absent.

However, where employees suffer significant side effects from the vaccine and as a result are unfit to attend work, ACAS guidance suggests that employers should exercise their discretion to pay employees their usual rate of pay for such sickness absences, as a further means of encouragement to take the vaccine.

ACAS also suggests that any absences relating to the side effects of the vaccine should be discounted for the purposes of any sickness absence management and trigger points.

On the other hand, by paying employees their usual pay, it is foreseeable that this could potentially be exploited and as such, we would recommend capping the number of days for which full pay might be paid in these circumstances.

Of course, if the employer offers a company sick pay scheme and the period of absence would be paid under that scheme anyway, then the employer should simply apply the terms of their scheme in the normal way.

Are employees legally entitled to SSP for sickness absences as a result of vaccine side effects?

From the outset of the pandemic the legal right to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) was extended to absences relating to Coronavirus, payable from the first qualifying day of absence and to cover periods of self-isolation (other than as a result of travelling in or out of the UK). The purpose of this extension was to avoid employees attending work where they should otherwise be self-isolating due to the financial impact of their absence, thus minimising the spread of Coronavirus.

Furthermore, employers with less than 250 employees have been able to claim back up to two weeks SSP under the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (the Scheme) in respect of coronavirus related SSP. However, the Scheme has not been extended to absences relating to side-effects from the vaccine.

In any event, whilst SSP would be payable for any sickness absence exceeding 4 days, it is unclear whether SSP will be payable applicable from the first day of qualifying absence or whether this would fall under the usual rules and become payable after three qualifying waiting days. It is also unclear whether employers can use the Scheme to recover any SSP paid as a Coronavirus related absence, as the eligibility only extends to periods of self-isolation (excluding travel related), or absence due to contracting Coronavirus as set out above.

Where employers are reluctant to exercise their discretion to pay employees in full for any sickness absences arising from the side effects of the vaccine, employers should consider paying SSP from the first qualifying day of absence, rather than applying the usual three-day waiting period, as a minimum to encourage staff to take the vaccination in line with the ACAS guidance.

If you have any questions arising out of Coronavirus, or if you are looking to introduce a vaccination policy within your business, please contact a member of our Employment Team.