Half of UK managers back mandatory Covid vaccines for office work

More than half of managers in the UK want to be allowed to make coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for staff returning to work, according to a survey that adds to pressure on the government to support “jabs for jobs” to help accelerate the reopening of the battered British economy. 

Close to half also said that office access should be restricted for those who refused to get a vaccination on non-medical grounds, the national poll conducted by the Chartered Management Institute of more than 1,000 managers found.

Three-fifths of managers have already decided to make testing available for their employees when they are allowed to return to the office — with a fifth saying this will become mandatory to return to work.

Ann Francke, CMI chief executive, said: “Managers have shown a significant level of support for mass testing and vaccinations. And widespread take up would allow for a swift and safe return to work.”

Boris Johnson, prime minister, has admitted that the issue raises serious “philosophical and ethical” concerns and has ordered a review by Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister.

Gove launched the consultation on Monday — inviting responses from interested parties into how Covid-19 certification could work through the use of testing or vaccination data. The review will look at the ethical, equalities, privacy, legal and operational aspects of a certification scheme.

Lawyers warn that it would be difficult for companies to insist on mandatory vaccinations under current workplace legislation, given the risk of discriminating against workers who cannot or will not be vaccinated.

As a result, Downing Street would prefer a system under which companies let staff or customers choose to demonstrate proof of either vaccination or recent testing. Businesses can get free coronavirus workplace tests under a government scheme.

In the CMI survey, over half agreed it was a manager’s role to encourage employees to get a Covid-19 vaccination. The same number were concerned about potential conflict between staff reluctant to be vaccinated and workers who feel unsafe working with those people.

The Trades Union Congress said that it was encouraging workers to get vaccinated. Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary, said workplace testing “can play a key role in our public health effort . . . but employers should not introduce testing until they can guarantee that all of their workforce have access to decent sick pay”.

The CMI survey also showed that the pandemic will have a lasting impact on how companies use their offices, with only a fifth of bosses saying that they wanted employees to return to the workplace five days a week.

Many companies are already bringing in hybrid working policies from when restrictions lift in the summer, mixing time in the office and at home. Most organisations have found that staff worked efficiently in their homes during the pandemic, and many workers want to retain some of that flexibility.

Almost half of managers said their organisations would probably reduce the office space in their main headquarters as a result.

But the poll showed a split between sizes of businesses, with larger companies showing a greater willingness to adopt flexible working, while SMEs were more likely to say workers will go back much or all of the time. 

The government has told companies to keep workers at home if possible, although there are exemptions for those who need to be in the office for essential business or personal reasons.

About 15 per cent of managers whose staff were working from home said that employees would continue to work mostly or entirely remotely in future.

Francke said: “With thousands of companies successfully operating remotely for the last year, there should be no reason why permanent flexible working opportunities shouldn’t be available wherever possible.”

The chancellor this month revealed plans to increase corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent for larger businesses from 2023.

According to the CMI poll, nearly half of managers think the increase in corporation tax would have a negative impact on both their businesses as well as the UK as a whole. Almost 40 per cent said inward investment would decrease as a result of the tax rise.

More than half of the surveyed managers thought that the end of the Brexit transition period had had a negative impact, citing import red tape (60 per cent), export red tape (54 per cent), sales of goods and services (56 per cent) and relationships with suppliers in the EU (53 per cent) as the cause.