"Upcoming 'vaccine pass’ leaves unvaxxed open to dismissal"

The Standard 8 February 2022

Employers will be allowed to sack unvaccinated employees who cannot go to work due to new "vaccine pass" arrangements to be enforced this month, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said.   

In a press conference on Tuesday, Lam said the government will amend the Employment Ordinance to minimize conflicts between employers and employers over anti-epidemic measures.   

One amendment will state that employers won't be considered to have made an "unreasonable dismissal" if they fire staffers who cannot carry out their jobs at venues covered by the vaccine pass to launch on February 24. [...]

Another change to the ordinance will stipulate that employers cannot sack workers due to lockdowns of the estates they live in or if they are sent to quarantine. Those workers will be eligible for sick leave, and their sacking will be considered "unreasonable dismissals" with legal consequences. [...]