Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Hybrid workingCoronavirusTestingVaccinationsLegal sector

‘No jab, no return’- the legal landscape

by Joseph Lappin 26 Jul 2021
by Joseph Lappin 26 Jul 2021 Photo: Prostock-Studio/Shutterstock
Photo: Prostock-Studio/Shutterstock

With a sizeable proportion of the UK population still not being vaccinated and infection rates still relatively high, employers hoping to bring back staff to offices face difficult legal questions, writes Joseph Lappin.

Since 19 July it has been up to employers to decide, without instruction from government, where their staff should be plying their trades. The minority of employers who wish to compel their workers to return will need to consider several issues.
Although the instruction to work from home has been dropped, the government has issued guidance for employers on the return to work. This suggests that employers should ask staff who have been working from home to return to work gradually.

Sensible employers will consult with their staff, try to understand the reasons for staff not wanting to return to work and will work with staff to find solutions”

Employers still have a legal duty to protect the health and safety of their staff. In the context of Covid-19, employers must identify the risks posed by the virus in the workplace. This isn’t a simple box-ticking exercise. Employers must carry out a detailed risk assessment, identify the real risks posed by the virus and implement safety measures to protect their staff. The measures employers will need to introduce will depend on the workplace. Safety measures on a building site will differ to those in an office in a city centre. Government guidance includes a range of measures employers should be implementing, including ensuring that workplaces are cleaned regularly and that adequate ventilation systems are in place.

It is important that employers make their workplaces safe. Employees who reasonably believe their workplaces pose a real and imminent risk to their safety have protection under employment laws – employees must not be subjected to a detriment or be dismissed if they refuse to attend the workplace citing genuine safety concerns.

As vaccination numbers increase, and if employers have invested time, money and effort in making their workplaces Covid secure in line with government guidance, these arguments may become harder to sustain but every complaint will turn on its own facts.

Return to the workplace

Care home staff: deadline set for mandatory Covid-19 jabs

How should HR handle staff who refuse to return to the office?

Can office staff be prioritised for pay rises and promotions?

Workplace return guidance offers ‘little to dispel confusion’

Almost two-thirds think homeworking will increase HR workload

Incentivising staff

Many employees who have been working from home since the start of the pandemic will be reluctant to return to the workplace. Many will ask whether it is truly necessary to return to the “old normal” and return to offices at all.
Employers who want staff to return to the office will need to sensibly identify ways to encourage and incentivise their employees to come back to work. This could be implemented in several ways, such as:
• Assigning mentors to staff to help staff deal with and overcome legitimate worry and anxiety associated with a return to offices
• Offering bike-to-work schemes so that staff do not need to use public transport
• Providing activities for staff at work, for example yoga or keep fit classes
• Investing in, improving and upgrading work spaces.

Return stand-off

Some employers might insist that – whether the employee agrees or not – their presence in the office is a necessary term of the employment contract, and failure to return could lead to disciplinary action or even dismissal. However, our view is that employers should do all they can to try to avoid such disagreements arising. These are unique times, and most concerns will be genuine. Sensible employers will consult with their staff, try to understand the reasons for staff not wanting to return to work and will work with staff to find solutions.

Vaccinations

Different businesses will adopt varying approaches to a “no jab no return” policy. For example, those operating in the hospitality or the healthcare sector will likely hold different views on the no jab, no job policy compared with employers operating in professional and financial services. Staff working in care homes will be required to be vaccinated from 11 November.

An employer cannot compel staff to be vaccinated if they do not wish to be. However, employers might be able to insist that staff cannot return to the workplace unless and until they have been fully vaccinated.

Employers who implement a no jab, no job policy will need to grapple with a number of tricky legal and non-legal issues. Staff may refuse a vaccine for several reasons, including on grounds of health, philosophical belief or religion. Will such a policy be discriminatory?

What will be the impact on staff morale? How will this data be recorded and used by employers? Can less onerous policies be implemented, for example, by requiring staff to undertake regular testing? Could employees who refuse the jab continue to work from home for an extended period? Could an employee who refuses the jab have their duties amended temporarily to avoid them coming into contact with others?

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Employers will adopt different arrangements when it comes to vaccination. Before taking the arbitrary decision to prohibit employees who have not had a jab from returning to work, sensible employers will engage with staff and listen to their reasons for them refusing the vaccine.

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today


Browse more human resources jobs

Joseph Lappin

Joseph Lappin is head of employment at litigation-only law firm Stewarts

previous post
Male directors win sex discrimination case following ad agency’s ’embarrassing’ gender pay gap
next post
A new leaf: fix the office with some foliage

You may also like

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Workers ‘wait and see’ as companies struggle to...

16 May 2025

Senior execs at BlackRock to work in office...

8 May 2025

Employers urged to do more to tackle loneliness

1 May 2025

Post-pandemic starters seek more pay for on-site working

10 Apr 2025

One in seven experience workplace abuse, finds major...

2 Apr 2025

Remote working isn’t bad – it just needs...

1 Apr 2025

Hybrid workers less sick and less stressed

28 Mar 2025

Dog owners more likely to want to work...

24 Mar 2025

Disabled workers disadvantaged by return-to-office mandates

13 Mar 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+