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BL Premium reports that Sasbo wants Old Mutual to reinstate its members who were fired for not complying with the group’s mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy, which was scrapped in June.
The finance sector union, which recently succeeded in forcing Standard Bank to commit to rehiring at least 40 Sasbo members fired for noncompliance with the bank’s mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy, sent a letter to Old Mutual on 12 July demanding the “unconditional” reinstatement of its axed members. While Sasbo received an email from Old Mutual CEO Iain Williamson three days later acknowledging receipt of its demands, the insurer has apparently not yet responded to say how it will deal with this issue. However, the firm has requested a list of members the union wants rehired. Old Mutual has dismissed at least 49 employees for noncompliance with a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination policy it announced in November 2021 and put into effect in January 2022. The group indicated last week that some employees refused both vaccination against Covid-19 as well as the alternative option of regular Covid-19 testing, thereby forcing it to dismiss them. Yet ironically Old Mutual subsequently amended its Covid-19 policies on 22 June, which saw its mandatory vaccination policy scrapped thanks to an employee vaccination rate in excess of 90%. Though Old Mutual says only 49 employees have been fired for not complying with its previous Covid-19 vaccine mandate, Sasbo general secretary Modime Joe Kokela says the number of impacted staff could be far higher as many were still facing incapacity hearings when the policy was scrapped. Old Mutual claimed last week that these incapacity proceedings were scrapped after it revised its Covid-19 policy.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Garth Theunissen at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page