Labour: New workplace vax ruling goes the other way

A recent ruling by the CCMA has found a workplace mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy to be unlawful, ordering that an employee’s dismissal for refusing to get the jab was unfair and awarding her a year’s salary as compensation. However, Advocate Vusi Masango, who represented Kgomotso Tshatshu against Baroque Medical, said he feared the CCMA victory may be the start of a long court battle, potentially holding up payment of the funds to his client. A report on TimesLIVE site notes that Tshatshu had an adverse reaction to a flu jab a decade ago and was resistant to taking Covid-19 vaccines. This was in conflict with her company’s mandatory vaccination policy. Law firm ENS Africa noted the CCMA ruling was in contrast with a previous ruling by another commissioner relating to the same employer and the same mandatory vaccination policy. In the first CCMA dispute involving Baroque Medical, ENS Africa said the CCMA found the employer was justified in implementing mandatory vaccination in the workplace as a mechanism to curb absenteeism related to Covid-19 and that a failure to vaccinate led to a substantively fair dismissal for operational requirements.