Dairy Exporter December 2021

Page 48

SPECIAL REPORT

COVID FATIGUE

No Jab,No Job in the milking shed?

Words by: Amanda Douglas

C

ovid-19 has impacted the lives of every single New Zealander. The Government has stated that it considers vaccination to be the best form of protection against the virus and has already mandated that employees are vaccinated in several industries where it considers the risk of spreading the virus is high. Primary industries, including the dairy industry, have not yet been mandated, but it is possible that new industries could be added. Arguably, there are justifiable reasons for this within the rural community, particularly given that agriculture and horticulture sectors make up an important part of NZ’s food supply chain and are the backbone of the country’s exports and economy. With the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant, the spread of Covid-19 within rural workplaces could have a significant impact not only on the affected businesses, but also on the economy. Employers whose workplaces are not yet covered by the Government’s vaccination mandate (including farms) should still consider what measures they should be taking to protect their workers. The first step is often to ask employees to disclose their vaccination status. Employers can ask employees for their vaccination status if they have a genuine need for the information and they collect, store, and share the information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020. Employees do not have to provide their vaccination status to their employer, however, if they choose not to disclose this, the employer may let them know that they’ll therefore assume that they are unvaccinated (and the employer should inform the employee of this assumption). 48

Employers can also undertake a health and safety risk assessment to determine whether certain roles within their business should be undertaken by a vaccinated employee. Such an assessment includes considering the likelihood of employees being exposed to Covid-19 in their workplace and the potential consequences of that exposure for others, alongside possible control measures. WorkSafe New Zealand has published guidance on how to undertake a risk assessment and the Government has indicated that they will soon introduce a risk assessment process in law. If the outcome of the risk assessment indicates there is low risk associated with these factors, the employer may allow unvaccinated employees to continue in their role. If the outcome of the assessment indicates that there is high risk associated with the relevant factors, the employer may decide to mandate vaccinations for individual roles. This can be done by introducing a mandatory vaccination policy. However, before any decisions are made to introduce such a policy, the employer must first consult with employees about that proposal and how they might be impacted. If a mandatory vaccination policy is introduced, and if employees are unable or unwilling to be vaccinated, employers will need to tread carefully and before terminating employment consider whether there are available alternatives to termination of employment, such as redeployment into a lower risk role or working remotely. As the dairy industry has its own unique factors to consider - like shared accommodation - these can also be addressed in a policy. The risk assessment will assist to justify the outcome, whether it is to require vaccination or not. Therefore, it is an

important step in the process either way. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, employers have a duty to keep their employees safe at work. This includes identifying hazards that could give rise to reasonably foreseeable risks to health and safety, and when it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk, to implement control measures to minimise risks to health and safety. To uphold this legislative requirement, employers should ensure that any employee required to self-isolate due to testing positive to Covid-19, or being a close contact, does so, as this should reduce the spread of Covid-19 to other employees. Similarly, employers should ask an employee to get tested for Covid-19, if they suspect they may be positive. A farmer may also determine it is prudent to implement a mandatory vaccination policy requiring all persons entering their farm to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to protect those onfarm from risks to their health and safety. Prior to implementing such a policy, however, careful advice and process steps should be followed including engaging with those frequently visiting the farm to explain the reasons for the proposed policy and to discuss the implications. The Covid-19 vaccine is a highly charged and fast-moving topic impacting on human rights, privacy, employment and health and safety laws. If you have any questions in relation to the above information, including regarding risk assessments, mandatory vaccination policies, or termination, please feel free to email amanda.douglas@wynnwilliams. co.nz • Amanda Douglas is a partner at Wynn Williams and leads the firm’s Employment Law Team.

Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | December 2021


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Articles inside

The Dairy Exporter in December 1971

3min
pages 90-92

Gen Z to make their mark

4min
page 89

Tracmap unit eases compliance pain

3min
page 88

Never too late to learn

5min
pages 86-87

A beetle to beat the thistle

2min
page 85

Plants waiting to be weeds

2min
page 84

The art of saying no

5min
pages 82-83

Variety from consulting to composting

7min
pages 78-81

Vet Voice: More to it than

4min
pages 74-75

Fast track to management

5min
pages 76-77

Reducing heat stress over summer

2min
page 73

M. Bovis: It had a head start

6min
pages 71-72

Restoring Horowhenua’s waters

6min
pages 65-67

And now, freshwater plans

3min
page 64

Sustainability: Gaining the knowledge

8min
pages 58-61

Open Country: Online tool for FEP

3min
pages 62-63

When will all this end?

5min
pages 54-55

Social media and anti-vax The dirty dozen

6min
pages 56-57

How to handle Covid-19 coming onfarm

3min
pages 50-51

No Jab, No Job in the milking shed

4min
page 48

It’s a health and safety issue

4min
pages 46-47

Dealing with vaccine reluctance

3min
page 49

Taranaki soft core

12min
pages 34-38

When the lights go red

5min
pages 44-45

Prepare for a virus attack

6min
pages 42-43

Ryegrass: Twelve years of torture

6min
pages 39-41

Benchmarking: Measure it to be sure

5min
pages 32-33

Ahuwhenua Trophy: Taking the leap to manager

5min
pages 26-27

Spending the payout: new kit or cutting debt?

8min
pages 14-17

Ahuwhenua Trophy: Quality on the coast

9min
pages 22-25

Frances Coles loves being an ambassador for Kiwi farming

3min
page 10

Future farming will need to give more than profit, writes George Moss

3min
page 12

What a payout, writes John Milne, but what prices

2min
page 13

Market View: Hedging bets on Singapore

3min
pages 20-21

Global Dairy: All change at FrieslandCampina

5min
pages 18-19
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