Policies forcing employees to get immunised against Covid-19 could be unlawful, the government has been told.
So-called no jab no job policies were this week applied on all federal workers in the US.
The rules were announced by President Biden and anyone who won’t reveal their jab status will have to wear a mask, test regularly, socially distance and ‘generally will not be allowed to travel for work’.
UK care home workers will be required to get double jabbed within 16 weeks from October.
Cabinet members have indicated their willingness to expand the rules to other industries, with foreign secretary Dominic Raab calling them ‘smart’.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps added that they’re a ‘good idea’, but stopped short of saying laws would be passed to make them widely mandatory.
He told Sky News: ‘We are not going to make that legislation that every adult has to be double vaccinated before they go back to the office, but yes it is a good idea and yes some companies will require it.’
But the ministers are facing pressure to withdraw their support and ban ‘no jab no job’ entirely after backbench MPs, business groups and unions came out against the rules.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development told the Guardian it would be ‘an intrusion on an employee’s body and may discriminate on the basis of disability, or religious or philosophical belief’.
The UK’s equalities watchdog also urged companies not to make vaccination compulsory.
A spokesperson for the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: ‘Employers are right to want to protect their staff and their customers, particularly in contexts where people are at risk, such as care homes.
‘However, requirements must be proportionate, non-discriminatory and make provision for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.’
GMB union legal director Susan Harris said: ‘The way to increase vaccine take-up among workers is to educate and reassure them.
‘Bullying workers into taking a vaccine they are unsure about is cruel, unfair and a recipe for disaster.’
Tory MP Charles Walker also expressed his disapproval, saying: ‘I will exercise my purchasing power to avoid any company that implements such a loathsome policy. What a sad and pitiful state of affairs.’
Nearly 38 million or 71.8% of adults in Britain have received both jabs.
MORE : Has your boss started writing a ‘no jab, no job’ contract?
MORE : More than 150 hospital staff sacked or quit after refusing to get Covid vaccine
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