Traffic Lights
There seems to be more clarity in the ramblings of a 3-year-old than what the GVT has just dished out with respect to the traffic lights.
To me, it appears mostly as virtue signalling stuff with little detail which leaves everyone asking questions which simply don’t have answers... or if there is an answer, that answer may change the next day.
In Orange, businesses like hospitality, events etc can opt in to require vaccination certificates. In this case, there are no restrictions on gatherings, so restaurants etc can open with no restrictions. If you don’t opt in, then the restrictions will remain in place.
There was no clarity on specific details as to who this applied to. Apparently, it doesn’t apply to retail (yet) and there is conflicting answers to whether it would apply to a place of worship (church).
The Prime Minister said no, Hipkins said yes… So at present, it appears that the opt in for the vaccine requirements only apply to venues now that have gathering restrictions like bars, restaurants, etc.
In terms of our workplaces, it doesn’t apply… although the Prime Minister indicated that they are looking at this and will release more information in the coming weeks.
So, stepping forward to this week’s announcement, the Prime Minister is saying in places described above (restaurants, cafes, bars, sports events etc) where businesses opt in to mandate vaccinations for their patrons, then it is only fair that the employees that work in these businesses are mandated to be vaccinated too.
At present it doesn’t apply to any other business but as I noted, they are looking at this and taking advice. So, things may change by the time I release this blog!
The Prime Minister also mentioned a “simpler” risk assessment that the GVT developing - one to make it simpler for businesses to undertake their risk assessment and is modelled on the Worksafe advice.
No one knows what this looks like yet, but I’m thinking it will be similar to what we have already created given this has taken into account Worksafe’s material to date click here.
The GVT also announced that they are firming up the laws to make it harder to lodge grievances in relation to the vaccinations, but then in the next breath, they said, they would never take away the rights of an employee to test the decision of an employer in the Courts. Ok, I’M CONFUSED!!.
The question was asked and not answered by the Prime Minister about employees refusing to work with unvaccinated people. She simply said “businesses would need to undertake their own risk assessment and make a decision”. Given we work in compliance, that makes sense to me. However, for the lay person who is facing this every day, it doesn’t answer the question. Maybe that’s for another blog?
Chatting with our good mate John Dustow, who specialises in this, he notes that as an employer, you still need to:
Act in good faith
Consult and talk with your employees before making any decision
Make sure the employee has access to all the information the employer uses to make a decision
The decision needs to be fair and reasonable in the particular circumstances.
Nothing the Government says from the podium can be taken literally and employers still need to act within the laws