HRI
healthy outlook
To vax or not to vax? Vaccination in the workplace continues to be a topic of debate, with experts advising that the matter be approached with patience, understanding and gentle prodding.
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• Prioritising health education by having reliable and up-to-date information about Covid-19,
The interactive session was enabled in partnership with Mercer. Senior associate Kyle Black introduced the session with a short presentation on the vaccination debate, and how employers can engage employees without polarising the workforce.
• Privacy (whether an employee is vaccinated or not should be personal information).
BY ANG LLOYD
highly engaging and informative HR Indaba Conversation was hosted by chairperson of the audit and risk committee at Libstar Holdings, Anneke Andrews, and featured panellists Dieter Veldsman, HR thought leader at Academy to Innovate HR, Dr Penny Mkalipe, chief medical officer at Eskom, and Zenobia Mothilal, corporate HR manager at JD Group.
Kyle highlighted that organisations in developing countries like South Africa have an opportunity to partner with the government to play an active role in accelerating vaccination efforts. The key is to maintain ethical approaches that don’t infringe on human rights. To address this issue, organisations need to show they truly care through a human-led approach. To put employee wellbeing first in the context of Covid-19, employers must consider factors such as: • The support employees will receive (do they use existing sick days for vaccine side
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effects, for example),
• Defining the critical workforce (companies can organise the workforce in groups of priority when it comes to receiving vaccinations), • Ensuring that everyone has equal access to vaccinations, like transport to a vaccination site, and
The value of vaccines Vaccination has become a highly divisive topic, but the panellists provided spot-on insights, practical suggestions and experience-led advice. For Penny, to talk about anti-vaxxers versus those who are pro-vaccination is too simplistic. Rather, people are on a spectrum instead of in two opposing groups. “There are those who are unvaccinated, but some of them are truly unsure and they need more information,” she said. “Within this group, there are those who are continuing to research, mostly through Google, but they’re not yet convinced. Then you have people
