Firms to redeploy unvaccinated staff or let them work from home

Unvaccinated employees will be redeployed to roles that allow them to work remotely or continue working from home, with termination taken only as a last resort, companies and observers told The Straits Times.

They were responding to new rules announced last Sunday that bar unvaccinated staff from returning to the workplace from Jan 15, even if they test negative for Covid-19 24 hours beforehand.

Only those certified as medically ineligible for the vaccine or people who have recovered from Covid-19 within 180 days can return.

Mr Ang Yuit, vice-president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, said: "For many, redeployment is the obvious option. There really aren't many other alternatives.

"Having the human resources team speak to the workers and encourage vaccination is a longer-term option."

Companies that require workers to be physically present, such as those in retail and manufacturing, and workers performing certain office functions might have it harder, he added.

The new rules, which apply to both employees and self-employed people, will affect a significant number.

Around 52,000 employees here have not had any Covid-19 vaccine, the Manpower Ministry noted on Monday, while 98 per cent of workers - excluding the self-employed - have been jabbed. That presents challenges for bosses.

Singapore Manufacturing Federation president Douglas Foo said companies will have to reconsider how to retrain workers to allow them to work remotely.

Mr Lam Yi Young, Singapore Business Federation chief executive, suggested that employers can arrange one-to-one talks with unvaccinated staff to find out their concerns, and provide time off for their vaccination.

"As the inability to return to the workplace will have implications on the performance of unvaccinated employees, we urge all who are eligible to go for their vaccination as soon as possible," he said.

Singapore's largest employer, the Public Service Division (PSD), said 99 per cent of public officers have been vaccinated, and many are receiving their booster shots.

"For the very small proportion of officers who remain unvaccinated despite being medically eligible, we have been and will continue to engage them to discuss their concerns, and also advise them to consult their doctor if necessary," PSD said.

Insurer Prudential Singapore will ask unvaccinated staff to continue working from home from Jan 15.

Mr Victor Yeap, managing director of Yeap Medical Supplies and Pharmex Healthcare, said his staff are all vaccinated. The company has also arranged for them to receive additional vaccines against measles and diphtheria, which Mr Yeap noted is a new mandatory requirement for workers assigned to public healthcare institutions if they are required to work onsite.

Employees who remain unvaccinated against Covid-19 have very few options, said Ms Jolin Nguyen, managing director of AYP Group, a human resources technology and services company.

"Workers who choose not to be vaccinated may need to consider alternative career choices which may not be part of the conventional workforce," she added.

"Employers still do have an option to allow unvaccinated employees to work from home. However, that would spark a workplace fairness debate since vaccinated employees will be reporting back to office."

But Institute for Human Resource Professionals chief executive Mayank Parekh noted that the number of companies affected will be small as considerable progress has been made in vaccinating the workforce.

Indeed, 80 per cent of firms had attained full vaccine coverage for their workforce as at Dec 19.

"Employers should work with their affected workers to redeploy them to suitable jobs which can be done from home if such jobs are available, with remuneration commensurate with the responsibilities of the alternative jobs," Mr Parekh added.

"Termination should only be carried out as the last resort."