Public officers who choose to be unvaccinated will be placed on unpaid leave as last resort: PSD

About 3,000 public officers have yet to be vaccinated.

Faris Alfiq | November 04, 2021, 05:00 PM

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Medically eligible public service officers who choose to remain unvaccinated against Covid-19 will be placed on unpaid leave as a last resort, as per the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) guidelines.

According to a Public Service Division (PSD) spokesperson, it will do its best to allow unvaccinated officers to work from home if the job allows them to do so, CNA reported.

Starting from Jan. 1, 2022, only vaccinated employees, or employees who have recovered from Covid-19 within the past 270 days, are allowed to return to the workplace.

The Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) made this announcement in a press conference held on Oct. 23 in an effort to expand the vaccination-differentiated safe management measures, requiring all onsite workers to be fully vaccinated, or minimally to be tested regularly.

Remuneration will commensurate with the alternative job

The spokesperson added that unvaccinated officers will be redeployed to other jobs that can be done from home, if available, CNA reported.

As for the remuneration, it will be commensurate with the responsibilities of the alternative jobs, said the spokesperson:

“Those who are medically eligible but unvaccinated and whose work is required to be done at the workplace, on No-Pay Leave or allow the contract to lapse with no further renewal as a last resort.”

As of now, 98 per cent of public service officers have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The PSD said that it will "strongly encourage" the remaining two per cent, about 3,000 officers, to get vaccinated, CNA reported.

Only a small proportion of the unvaccinated officers are medically ineligible for mRNA vaccines, and that these officers should get a non-mRNA vaccination dose under the national vaccination programme, the spokesperson said. 

The spokesperson added that PSD will focus on counselling such officers on the importance of vaccination as well as to consider ways to redeploy them to allow remote working, in the first instance.

"If an officer has special considerations and chooses not to be vaccinated even though he is medically eligible, we will engage them to discuss their concerns first," the spokesperson added. 

Employers can fire unvaccinated employees as last resort

According to an advisory by the MOM issued on Oct. 23, employers will be allowed to terminate contracts with unvaccinated employees as a last resort.

For unvaccinated employees whose work can be performed at home, employers may allow them to continue to work from home but such working arrangements remain the employers' prerogative.

The ministry added that prolonged absence of unvaccinated employees from the workplace may affect their individual performance as well as negatively impact team or organisational performance.

If the work cannot be performed from home, employers may allow unvaccinated workers to work in the existing job with Pre-Event Testing done at the employees' own expense and time.

Employers can also redeploy unvaccinated workers to suitable jobs which can be done from home — if such jobs are available.

Remuneration must be commensurate with the responsibilities of the alternative jobs.

Employers can also place unvaccinated workers on no-pay leave.

As a last resort, employers can terminate employment with unvaccinated employees.

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Top image via Andrew Koay