What can an employer do if his employees refuse to get vaccinated?

In the State of Israel, there is currently no law requiring citizens to be vaccinated with any vaccine. Until that changes, employers have no right to demand that employees be vaccinated.

However, the employer can ask an employee who chooses not to be vaccinated to stay in capsule work or work from home, while vaccinated workers will be able to get to the office freely.

The directive should be given with sensitivity and caution, since as long as there is no change in legislation, a different treatment of employees against the background of immunization or the imposition of sanctions on employees who decide not to be vaccinated, is considered discrimination by law and can be used as a pretext.

In the United States, to which we often stare, it is actually permissible to require employees to be vaccinated, just as an employee may be required to perform certain medical examinations and meet certain health conditions relevant to the field of occupation.

Therefore, if the employer succeeds in proving that the very immunization of the employee is necessary for the work and business continuity of the company, he is allowed to demand from the employee to be vaccinated.

The U.S. immunization requirement has precedents from previous epidemics such as swine flu, during which the Supreme Court discussed the issue and tended to provide employers with room for maneuver with regard to imposing a vaccination obligation on employees.

A business company has a responsibility for the safety and health of its employees and must provide a clean and safe work environment for the stay of employees, customers and any other relevant factor.

The company is also committed to continuity and business strength vis-à-vis its shareholders and all its stakeholders.

The vaccination of employees will most likely reduce the need to work from home, hold remote meetings, isolation and more, and will help return the company to regular and continuous activity, just like in the days before the crisis.

At BDO, company and organization executives are encouraged to act in the first instance through advocacy and personal example.

Management members should be among the first to be vaccinated, if they have not done so to date, while communicating and informing employees about it.

Financial or other incentives can be provided to employees who decide to get vaccinated, however care must be taken as the very provision of the incentive may send a message that the vaccine is undesirable or dangerous.

Organizations also recommend that organizations allow employees who choose to be vaccinated and subsidize sick days if, in the vicinity of receiving the vaccine, the employee suffers from side effects and needs rest.

Some HMOs have announced that they will come to vaccinate employees in the workplace, so that vaccination campaigns can be conducted while communicating extensively in the internal organizational media and encouraging employees to come.

Maya Borkov is a project manager and social responsibility consultant at BDO Consulting, which accompanies organizations in developing a sustainability strategy and implementing it at the core of the business in all areas of activity.