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President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Lloyd Distant is urging members of the business community to utilise the framework set out in a joint private-sector advisory as a template for workplace COVID-19 vaccination policies.
The five-page document was issued on September 8 by the JCC, the Jamaica Employers’ Federation, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions.
It sets out suggested procedures for determining the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace and modes of consultations for the implementation of measures to contain the spread of the virus.
The document also outlines a series of steps, through to ultimate dismissal, if an employee refuses to comply with vaccination policy.
While dismissal is presented as a last resort, the policy puts greater weight on public safety.
“The dangers posed by the pandemic are real and devastating, and it is vitally important that people and businesses are not unreasonably put at risk by those who refuse to comply with reasonable measures designed to contain the spread of the virus in the workplace,” read a section of the document.
Distant said that such guidance was needed at this time amid an emboldening of private-sector companies to impose vaccine mandates.
Last week, CVM, Mother’s, and Isratech Jamaica Limited issued statements about targets and compliance on staff vaccination and testing.
The JCC president said that the document also underscores the importance of employee rights and of dialogue between employers and employee.
“It is very pragmatic. We have seen many businesses use the dialogue route, and over time, they have been able to get many of their employees to understand the importance of following the protocols, even taking the vaccine and the role it plays in protecting the business,” Distant said.
Labour law expert Danny Roberts told The Gleaner that the joint protocol advisory provides useful guidelines for dealing with the pandemic and was the most appropriate response to addressing the concerns of employers and employees.
“Employers’ right to protect employees from exposure to preventable health and safety exposure is equally important as the ethical considerations which are inherent in matters of bodily integrity. It is an opportunity for collaboration and cooperation, not division and distrust,” Roberts said.
Meanwhile, a new study conducted by Professor Dwayne Devonish and Teixiera Dulal-Arthur of The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, revealed that the increasing societal demands and pressure on Barbadians to take the COVID-19 vaccine has the potential to exacerbate their psychological or mental well-being.
Of 411 people surveyed, younger respondents, those 18 to 44, reported significantly greater internalised COVID-19 vaccine pressure than respondents in older categories.
Similarly, employed respondents, whether full time, part time, or self-employed, experienced significantly greater vaccine pressure than retired respondents.
Additionally, respondents employed in the tourism, hospitality, and restaurant sector and those employed in the public sector reported greater levels of internalised vaccine pressure than unemployed respondents.
“The higher mental-health strain associated with vaccine pressure in this study for younger and employed respondents seems to highlight that these groups were much more psychologically affected by this societal pressure and may have accompanying concerns and anxieties about the vaccine itself,” Devonish said.
judana.murphy@gleanerjm.com
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