Vaccination policy guidance for employers published

Build UK has published new guidance for construction employers on developing and implementing a vaccination policy for staff.

The guidance covers key questions such as whether or not a company needs a vaccination policy, whether employees can be asked if they can be vaccinated, whether records about employee vaccinations can be kept, and whether job applicants can be required to declare if they have been vaccinated or not.

It has been compiled with the collaboration of Citation, which operates Build UK’s HR and health and safety helpline.

Its publication comes as government guidance on self-isolation has changed. As of 16 August, the requirement for fully vaccinated adults or under-18s in England to self-isolate if notified by the NHS of contact with a positive covid-19 case has been removed.

Build UK has revised its flowchart for companies on what to do if a worker has covid-19 or has to self-isolate as a result of the change.

Andrew Eldred, ECA director of employment and skills, welcomed the change to isolation rules. He said: “The latest change will be a huge relief to employers, many of whom have seen their workforce decimated as a result of the need to self-isolate following an NHS ping.

“However, these changes do not signal the end of the pandemic, and we still need to wait for further reductions in R rates and other national and regional indicators before we can think about lowering our guard. We are encouraging employers to stay registered with NHS Test and Trace and to support employee testing.”

Source: Construction Manager Magazine