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Fin24 reports that Old Mutual has joined the list of companies that financial sector union Sasbo wants to take to the Labour Court for dismissing employees who refused to vaccinate against Covid-19.
The insurer has confirmed that 49 people have left its employ due to incapacity after refusing to vaccinate against Covid-19. Old Mutual introduced a mandatory vaccination policy in November 2021. It gave its staff up to January 2022 to produce vaccination certificates. The alternative for unvaccinated employees was to produce regular PCR or Rapid Antigen Testing results. Old Mutual abolished its mandatory vaccination policy on 22 June and halted the incapacity hearings process. Sasbo is already fighting for 40 Standard Bank employees who were dismissed by the bank for not vaccinating by its deadline of 4 April. Many other Standard Bank employees are on special leave pending their incapacity hearings. On Monday, Standard Bank also suspended its mandatory vaccination policy, with immediate effect. Sasbo has avoided going to the CCMA because of the inconsistency of its rulings on the issue of mandatory vaccination. It plans to approach the Labour Court and says it is prepared to take the matter all the way to the Constitutional Court. But according to a labour lawyer, all unfair dismissal disputes need to go through the CCMA process first. In May, the CCMA ruled that Baroque Medical was justified in firing an invoicing clerk for refusing to get vaccinated. But a month later, it ruled that the same company's application of its mandatory vaccination policy – in the case of an inventory controller – was "substantively unfair" and "unconstitutional".
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Londiwe Buthelezi at Fin24 (subscriber access only)
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