Can I get time off work and will I get docked pay for receiving the Covid vaccine?
Sign up for our free newsletter Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice  The much-welcomed news of the rollout of Covid vaccinations has many of us dreaming of a return to our normal routines. In some cases, it appears that people are not being given time off work to get the jab. Alternatively, employees are being told if they do take time off work to get their vaccine, then they wont get paid for the time theyve missed. The HSA guidelines are very clear - it actually has an obligation under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 for an employer to protect the health of employees. Richard Grogan, from Richard Grogan and Associates Solicitors told Today FM: "I know vaccinations are free at the present time, but this means they [employers] have to pay. According to Grogan, employers might say "it's not acceptable" to have to take a day off work when a vaccine only takes you two, three hours in terms of the travel time there and back to get the vaccination done" but he described these claims as ridiculous. This is a health and safety issue and you should not have to take sick leave to get the vaccination according to Mr Grogan. He said: "That is complete and utter rubbish behaviour by employers. I've actually seen this coming up and this is just not acceptable. Most good employers will facilitate the employee going because it's good business sense to have your employees vaccinated as claimed by Grogan. He stated: The reality of it is, this is just taking a common-sense approach. If you have your employees vaccinated, they're not going to have to be two meters apart and they can be down to one metre apart when they're all vaccinated. It makes good business sense." They can legally ask under GDPR if they've done a health and safety risk as to the issue as to whether somebody can be in the workplace if they aren't vaccinated. Grogan said: "In an office, an employee might turn around and say, 'can we have everybody back?' and they say, 'Well, we can and let's say if everybody's vaccinated, we could do the one metre apart if we have space.' With this, they've done the risk assessment which said, 'we have to have people vaccinated to have everyone back in.'" Your employer may provide you with advice and information on the vaccination programme so that you have the necessary information to make an informed decision. Grogan said: "Well, according to the codes that the Minister brought out last week, it is in those circumstances that you look at redeploying the staff member. Now, that's the Minister not actually grasping the nettle, the reality of it is that in a lot of companies, they won't be able to redeploy this employee and it's going to be a termination." The decision to get a vaccination against Covid is voluntary. Therefore you can make your own decision about whether or not to get a vaccination according to Citizen's Information. But in some workplaces, exposure to Covid may be a health risk to workers - for example workers in laboratory settings. In this case, an employer must complete a risk assessment and implement suitable control measures. Your employer can offer you a vaccination but you do not have to accept the offer. If you decide not to accept the offer of a vaccination, your employer must review their risk assessment and decide whether you can carry out your work without vaccination. In some cases, your employer may have no option but to redeploy you to another task or role. Your employer must agree to this with a medical practitioner and you must be consulted. Grogan said: "That's what it's going to come down to. If you take a chef in a restaurant, they're going to have to stay two metres apart if they're not vaccinated, that's probably going to be impossible. "In those circumstances, the employers will say, 'I can't redeploy them anywhere else.' This is a factual issue that we have to address. It's going to be an issue. It's a practical issue of bringing people back to the workplace. It's a hard answer that I've given and people won't like to hear it, but it's a reality as to how you open up a business."