New COVID-19 guidelines address employers and vaccination

Georgetown: COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No. 23) rule now compel every employer in the public and private sector to ensure that the appropriate COVID-19 guidelines, including those requiring proof of vaccination, are implemented and adhered to.

Paragraph 7 of these guidelines detail the measures that should be taken within the public and private sectors to ensure that employers and employees are kept safe from the novel coronavirus.

Though vaccination requirements to enter most buildings remain in place, the updated measures, in Paragraph 7 (4), explicitly state that employers shall address vaccination. This is the first time this specific requirement for vaccination has been included in the Emergency measures.

Importantly, too, according to Paragraph 12 (f), all persons with flu-like or respiratory symptoms and who stayed away from their workplace are required to present a negative PCR test result taken within seven days of the day they are required to return to work.

The preexisting guidelines, such as the rotation of workers and ensuring that the workplace has adequate sanitisation and social distancing measures, remain in effect.