AHA|SA MEMBER INFORMATION
Looking Forward to 2022: What’s Topical in IR OWEN WEBB - AHA|SA WORKPLACE RELATIONS MANAGER There is no doubt that from an industrial relations and human resources perspective, the last 12 months have thrown up some interesting “curve balls” for South Australian hospitality venues. Employers have had to manage the morale of their staff whilst contending with border closures, the policing of customers with ongoing restrictions to activities, a snap lockdown in July and the wellrecognised issue of the severe staff shortage across the industry. But as we move into the Christmas and New Year period and look forward to what 2022 brings us, we look at some of the topical issues that we will face in 2022 as an industry from a workplace relations perspective and what the implications are of those issues. VACCINATIONS IN THE WORKPLACE Vaccinations in the workplace and the question of whether to introduce workplace policies to mandate
COVID-19 vaccination for staff has certainly been a hot topic of debate right across the country in the latter half of 2021. Most other states and territories outside of South Australia have introduced at some point in time, laws through public health orders or emergency directions which require hospitality staff, by a particular date, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for them to be able to continue to be rostered to work on the licensed premises. These new laws have also introduced requirements for customers to also be fully vaccinated to be able to enter a licensed premise. South Australia however is in somewhat of a unique position in comparison to most other states and territories. At the time of writing this article, the South Australian Government has chosen not to introduce laws mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for employees working in the hospitality sector, apart from
32 | Hotel SA | W W W . A H A S A . A S N . A U
those working in a medi-hotel environment. So for South Australian hospitality venues we have moved into unchartered waters from an industrial relations perspective as venues weigh up the question of whether to introduce mandatory workplace COVID-19 vaccination policies for their staff. In the absence of any state government enforced laws on mandatory vaccination for hospitality staff, some venues, particularly some of the larger establishments, have chosen to introduce their own workplace policies on mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. So the question that beckons now and into 2022 for South Australian hospitality employers is where do they stand when it comes to directing staff to be vaccinated in the absence of any state government enforced laws? Back to Contents
