COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

Introduction

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Talent International (Talent) has been taking measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees and contractors (workers). We are committed to keeping our employees, clients, contractors, candidates and the broader community safe.

It is now increasingly clear that the best way we can protect our workplace is to ensure our workers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.  

Vaccines have been proven to protect against serious illness from COVID-19 and significantly lessen the rates of transmission. A person vaccinated againstCOVID-19 has stronger, longer and better protection against contracting the virus than someone who has not been vaccinated.

As part of our business, our workers have interaction with other people such as clients, other employees, candidates and the public during the course of their work. Further, many of our workers perform work for clients who have in place their own mandatory vaccination policies.

As such, encouraging our workers to be vaccinated will allow us to continue to provide our services, provide a safe work environment for all, and contribute to the safety of the community we work in.

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Purpose

This policy sets out Talent’s position on COVID-19 vaccinations in the workplace and the places where our workers work, including where they work on client sites and client visits.

The purpose of this policy is to manage and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our workplace and our community. It is also to provide clear communication to our workers about being vaccinated in the workplace.

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Optional COVID-19 Vaccination

Talent has a duty of care to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the work health and safety of our workers, candidates and clients.

At present, the COVID-19 vaccination is voluntary for our workers. Subject to public health directions in the Country, State or Territory in which you work, it is your choice on whether to get vaccinated or not to get vaccinated. However, Talent’s position is that we strongly encourage all workers to get vaccinated.

We reserve the right to update this policy and make vaccination mandatory at a later date. If this occurs, being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will become an inherent requirement of your role.

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Time off to get vaccinated

In order to support our Talent employees getting vaccinated or booster shots, Talent will:

·        Offer time off without loss of pay to travel to and from a vaccination centre to be vaccinated

·        Offer additional time as needed to rest if a worker is not feeling well after the shots

For our Talent contractors working with a client of Talent, it will be dependent on our client’s policy and requirements in relation to taking time away from providing services to get vaccinated. We ask that contractors liaise directly with clients to come to a suitable arrangement.

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Protocols at work and while attending client sites

Talent requires all workers take precautionary hygiene measures.

All workers in the workplace and attending client sites should continue to follow current guidance to protect themselves and others, including:

• Wearing a face mask when required under a Government directive or where appropriate (e.g. where there is community transmission or where physical distancing is difficult to maintain)
• Following Government and Health directions and protocols
• Washing hands thoroughly and generally practice good hand hygiene
• Not attending work if unwell, have COVID-19 symptoms or have been told to stay at home by health officials

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Protocols for unvaccinated workers

Talent aims to create a safe work environment for all our workers and encourages everyone to be fully vaccinated to protect our workplace and our community.

For workers who choose, or are unable, to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Talent reserves the right to implement any safety measures that they deem are appropriate to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. These measures include, but are not limited to:

• Workers (vaccinated and unvaccinated) being required to undertake a COVID-19 test and provide evidence of a negative test result prior to entering the workplace. This may be due to the individual showing COVID-19 symptoms, a community outbreak or for any reason as requested by management.
• Workers (vaccinated and unvaccinated) being required to undertake a rapid antigen COVID-19 test prior to entering the workplace, or at regular intervals, as requested by management.
• Unvaccinated workers being required to wear face masks in the workplace, particularly where density requirements or social distancing cannot be properly maintained.
• Unvaccinated workers to adhere to physical distancing requirements, which may include them requiring permission to enter certain rooms or spaces in the communal workplace.
• Limits on the use of lunchrooms, and communal cutlery or other company property, by unvaccinated persons.
• Unvaccinated workers being excluded from large social events, where it is not practical to manage social distancing and other safety measures effectively.

Workers unable to receive the COVID-19 vaccination

This policy regarding COVID-19 vaccinations will be implemented consistently with our obligations under applicable health and safety and anti-discrimination laws.

For some workers, there may be medical reasons why a person cannot receive the COVID-19vaccination.

Although the COVID-19 vaccination is optional for our workers, we still strongly encourage our workforce to be fully vaccinated. Talent reserves the right to implement any safety measures as per the protocols in Section 7 as appropriate for workers that are unable to be vaccinated.

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Third party vaccination requirements

At this stage, Talent has not mandated that workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19, however there may be situations where a client, supplier or other business requires that any person with whom they have dealings with must be vaccinated against COVID-19 for health and safety reasons. This may also include if it is deemed necessary by the client or a third party in order to facilitate compliance with a governmental or safety-related directive, order or guideline.

For example, a client of Talent may require that only vaccinated workers of Talent may attend their premises, or for workers who are required to travel interstate, they may be required by airline providers to be vaccinated in order to be permitted to travel by airplane.

In this case, Talent may give a lawful and reasonable direction to a worker to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to perform the “inherent requirements” of their role. If a worker is not able to perform their role for this reason (including if the worker has been unable to receive the COVID-19 vaccination for medical reasons), this may result in termination of employment. Talent will endeavour to consult with any workers who may be impacted by the circumstances described in this clause, provide a reasonable opportunity for vaccination, and consider whether any options of redeployment can be offered.

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Vaccination records

Workers will be required to provide Talent with confirmation of their vaccination status upon request.

For workers that are vaccinated, Talent will request that they provide an acceptable form of evidence of vaccination, which includes a copy of their official vaccination certificate or an appropriate vaccination record.

Workers have the right to privacy with regard to their vaccination status. Talent will comply with our privacy obligations and in particular will not disclose any information about an individual’s personal, vaccination or health status, except where required for operational or safety reasons, at law or in accordance with a public health order, on a need to know basis (such as, to managers or clients where is it necessary to confirm vaccination status for staff who need to attend certain sites or facilities where vaccinations are mandatory e.g. aged care facilities).

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Further Information

Information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic is subject to change given the evolving nature of the pandemic.

We encourage all workers to regularly keep up to date with Government advice, particularly when restrictions are in place.

If you have any queries about this policy, please contact Luke McCoy, Talent's Chief Risk Officer, luke.mccoy@talentinternational.com

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