THE ISSUE OF WHETHER EMPLOYEES SHOULD BE SUBJECTED TO MANDATORY COVID-19 JABS WILL ENHANCE DISCUSSIONS AMONG LABOUR STAKEHOLDERS WITH REGARDS TO SAFETY AT THE PLACE OF WORK-KAZIYA.

Permanent Secretary Chanda Kaziya says the the issue of whether Covid -19 vaccination should be mandatory for employees will enhance discussions among stakeholders in the Labour industry with regards to the need for safety in places of work for employees.

Kaziya said during a tripartite labour meeting on Descent work Country programmes that currently , the issue of whether it was legal and morally right for employers to demand vaccination certificates or regular Covid -19 tests for employees as part of their work conditions was currently controversial.
“Should people be forced to get Covid vaccination at a work place? Now these are choices that people have to make. Of course in Zambia, we are on record…the President is on record…we are not forcing anyone, there is no law that forces anyone to take Covid -19 vaccine, however, when there are conditions set, people have a choice to make,” Kaziya said.

Kaziya said although the Zambian government was not imposing vaccination on Zambians, it had no legal obligation to stop employers that wanted to make vaccination mandatory.
“This I must be able to bring out. As a matter of occupation safety and health, that as we look at descent work, we must make mention that employers have a right to create policies and the employment code number 2 of 2019 section 5 has made it mandatory that employers must have policies that will stick to occupational health, safety and wellness at the place of work. Now I must be clear ladies and gentlemen that if an employer chooses to say, I am offering employment to the people that are vaccinated, we can’t there as government and say this is unfair remove this. We can’t because a person has a choice of making themselves available for employment, He said.