15 September 2021

New Zealand's biggest retirement operator wants all staff working at its retirement villages and aged-care facilities to be vaccinated.

But Ryman's proposed new policy requiring all its roles to be filled by vaccinated staff was released this week and has come as a shock to some workers this week who feel like they are being pressured into it.

Ryman Healthcare chief executive Gordon MacLeod confirmed the company was in the process of seeking staff feedback on the proposed Covid-19 vaccination new policy aimed at ensuring its 38 villages were "safe havens" for residents from life-threatening viruses such as Covid.

He said it came as a result of Ryman carrying out a robust risk assessment based on public health and health and safety regulations which concluded an unvaccinated team member presented a much higher risk of transmitting the virus to its highly vulnerable residents.

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But one caregiver said the manager of the North Island retirement village where she worked met with the handful of unvaccinated staff on Monday for an informal discussion about the new policy and warned them they could lose their jobs if they didn't get the jab.

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Under NZ law, businesses cannot require any individual to be vaccinated but can require that certain work must only be done by vaccinated workers, where there is high risk of contracting and transmitting Covid-19 to others, according to Employment NZ's website.

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