Ask Gavin: can I force my employees to get the flu jab? Help!

Here’s what they had to say…

Hi Gavin, it’s around about this point of the year where everyone starts getting the lurgy. So we always roll out a complimentary flu jab programme in my company in October / November time as a way of giving staff that extra protection. To give a bit of background, I manage an agency and we meet with clients regularly, so I prefer that all my employees opt to get the jab. I was wondering if I have a right to enforce that my staff get vaccinated or would that leave me in trouble? I don’t want anyone accusing me of being some kind of tyrant! Thanks.Anon

Gavin’s reply was…

Hi Anon,

Thanks for getting in touch. First of all, when you say “enforce”, I’m guessing you don’t mean tying your employees to a chair and pointing a needle at them – because then you may certainly have an issue!

“we always roll out a complimentary flu jab programme in my company in October / November time as a way of giving staff that extra protection”

Do you have any vulnerable people working for you? Because if so, that’s a pretty good incentive for employees to take up the flu jab.

Reminding employees to protect themselves and their colleagues, particularly if they’re working with people who are high-risk, may give them that extra bit of encouragement to get vaccinated.

“I manage an agency and we meet with clients regularly, so I prefer that all my employees opt to get the jab”

I understand why you would have concerns when your business is client facing. After all, you want your employees to have the best chance of staying well – or at least be at a lower risk of getting really sick.

However, while you can strongly encourage your employees to get vaccinated, you can’t make them if they don’t want to. There’s no law that says a person has to get vaccinated.

Even if you added this to your employee’s terms and conditions, you still can’t force someone to get a flu vaccination.

This is even the case for frontline care workers, where the government does advise that staff get a flu vaccine in order to protect themselves and the people they care for.

“I was wondering if I have a right to enforce that my staff get vaccinated or would that leave me in trouble?”

Where there is a higher risk of infections, such as in a care home or hospital setting, that’s when you may have more power to enforce vaccinations. With the case of a care worker, it may be reasonable to ask that they get vaccinated as part of their role and you may be able to take disciplinary action against those who refuse.

In your case, it might be that there are other things you can do to reduce the risk to your employees if some don’t want to get the flu jab.

You can send company-wide emails with information around general hygiene best practice, like reminding employees to:

• wash their hands regularly
• cover their mouths when sneezing or coughing
• stay home if they feel unwell and / or have flu symptoms

You can also take steps, like:

• providing hand sanitisers on desks
• adding protective screens in between desks or on reception counters
• making sure to keep communal areas clean (you can also remind your staff to keep their own workstations clean)
• providing personal protective equipment (as a choice) to staff, like masks, face shields and gloves
• making sure to ventilate your workplace and keep fresh air circulating (either through open windows or air conditioning)

“I don’t want anyone accusing me of being some kind of tyrant!”

I think you wanting your employees to get vaccinated shows you’re anything but a tyrant. You care about the health of your staff and your clients, and it is part of your duty to take steps to uphold health & safety in your workplace.

If you consider the steps I’ve mentioned and you’re also offering your own vaccination programme, you can feel confident that you’re doing everything you can to protect your workers.

And if you have any questions at all, you can book in for a free advice call with one of our Health & Safety experts below.

Hopefully, the lurgies stay away!

All the best,

Gavin