Cash to be jabbed?
Winter bugs. According to some medical experts, winter 2021 could see a sharp rise in ‘flu cases. Add COVID-19 into the mix, and you might be wondering what your staff sickness absence rates will look like over the next few months. If you have a situation where several employees are off sick at the same time, it could place your business under enormous pressure.
A financial incentive. To reduce the sickness absence risks to your business, could you offer all employees a small financial incentive to have a ‘flu and/or COVID-19 jab? There’s nothing which prevents you doing this, but it’s actually a bad idea for several reasons. Firstly, some legal experts have suggested that offering employees financial incentives, such as cash payments or vouchers, could be deemed an inducement which puts the employer in breach of the legal restrictions on advertising prescription-only medicines.
Indirect discrimination. Secondly, where an employer offers a financial incentive , it can be indirectly discriminatory if certain protected groups are unable to take advantage. For example, an employee who has a medical condition that amounts to a disability may have been advised by their medical practitioner not to have certain vaccinations. Equally, those with certain religious or philosophical beliefs may object to vaccinations.
Risk of a claim. Finally, offering a financial incentive to be vaccinated, even if it’s only for a nominal amount, could leave you vulnerable to a personal injury or negligence claim in the event the employee suffers an adverse reaction to the vaccine. Depending on the extent of their reaction, this could be pretty costly.
Tip. Whilst you should give financial incentives to be vaccinated a wide berth, you can encourage employees to be vaccinated. However, any vaccination ultimately remains an individual’s personal choice.
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