Mahabir-Wyatt: Workers can't be dismissed for refusing to take vaccines

Chairman and managing director of Personnel Management Services Diana Mahabir-Wyatt says an employee cannot be dismissed for not being willing to take a covid19 vaccine unless it was a part of their employment contract.

Mahabir-Wyatt, referring to a statement made by president of the Industrial Court Deborah Thomas-Felix, said, “Most companies in Trinidad didn’t make that a requirement before the pandemic started.

"What the president of the Industrial Court said is that if there is a good reason for it, it can be made a condition of employment for new employees, but you cannot dismiss an employee under a contract of employment that doesn’t require it.”

She said the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act said that workers can be temporarily laid off with pay, and the current practice is that workers be paid 50 per cent of their salaries.

“Most employers can’t afford to pay if there’s no business coming in, but if there is business coming in, the employer has to pay NIS and recognise the time the employee is not working as counting towards service accumulation, for example: sick leave and vacation leave. They will usually also continue to pay health surcharge and extend medical coverage. Employers don't want to lose employees but they're also not made of money to keep paying workers for months and years.”

The act says if the employee is being terminated “for whatever reason, for reasons of interests of community of the whole, the minimum severance benefits payable by the employer are as follows: (a) where he has served the employer without a break in service for between more than one but less than five years, he is entitled for each such completed year of service to two weeks’ pay at his basic rate if he is an hourly, daily or weekly-rated worker, or one half month’s pay at his basic rate if he is a monthly-rated worker; where he has served the employer without a break in service for five years or more, he is in addition to his entitlement under paragraph (a), entitled for the fifth year and for each succeeding completed year of service to three weeks pay at his basic rate if he is an hourly, daily or weekly rated worker, or three quarters month’s pay at his basic rate if he is a monthly-rated worker. For each period of service amounting to less than a completed year of service and in respect of workers who qualify under section 3(1)(d), payment shall be calculated on a pro rata basis.”

She also pointed out that it was not only employees who lost out when people were unemployed.

“I don’t know if people understand the drop in government revenue from people who are made redundant because they’re not paying taxes. I suspect NIS is suffering as well, it’s a big concern because you want to make sure that when you retire there is going to be enough money in the NIS to be able to pay your pension, because you’re paying in every month. So it’s a very difficult and complex situation.”