Mandatory workplace vaccination: The current state of play

Mandatory Workplace Vaccination: The Current State of Play

As the Covid-19 vaccination process slowly but surely proceeds, the issue of mandatory workplace Covid-19 vaccination is increasingly coming under consideration.

Two recent Fair Work Commission (FWC) unfair dismissal cases, relating to refusals by employees to have flu vaccinations, offer some useful insights into the approach that will likely be adopted by the FWC (and other tribunals and courts) to the issue of mandatory workplace Covid-19 vaccination when such cases inevitably arise.

These cases are Ms Bou-Jamie Barber v Goodstart Early Learning [2021] FWC 2156(Barber)andJennifer Kimber v Sapphire Coast Community Aged Care Ltd[2021] FWC 1818(Kimber). They were both handed down in April 2021. The former is a decision of Deputy President Lake and the latter is a decision of Commissioner McKenna.