Pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of Health of December 22, 2021, amending the regulation on the declaration of an epidemic in the territory of the Republic of Poland (Journal of Laws, item 2398 – hereinafter referred to as the „Regulation”), compulsory vaccinations against COVID were introduced from March 1, 2022. -19 for people working in the medical profession, people employed in entities providing pharmaceutical services and for students studying in the fields of preparation for the medical profession. This amendment raises some people’s doubts about the breach of the principle of non-discrimination of employees. Below we explain what to expect from the new changes and why we cannot speak of unlawful discrimination in the context of the new vaccination obligation.
The above-mentioned groups are required to undergo vaccination, which can be confirmed by an EU digital certificate, until March 1, 2022. This obligation is suspended for people who have not passed the diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 by 1 March more than 6 months. The regulation indicates that the only persons exempt from the obligation to vaccinate are those who have contraindications to vaccination in terms of their health condition.
Despite the fact that the ordinance does not specify any sanctions for failure to comply with the vaccination obligation, the published interpretation of the Ministry of Health indicates that failure to vaccinate against COVID-19 by those obliged to do so may result in a change in the work organization of such an employee or even termination of the employment relationship. Therefore, the decision on how to deal with unvaccinated workers depends on the employer who, pursuant to Art. 221 § 4 and § 5 of the Labor Code may require the employee to submit a statement to verify the fulfillment of this obligation.
The new regulation does not limit the employer’s prohibition of discrimination. If an employer decides on the consequences for an unvaccinated worker, he must make the same decision for all other workers who have failed to vaccinate. Such conditions mean that we cannot speak of allowing discrimination in the context of the new regulation. It should be remembered, however, that when there is a suspicion of unlawful activity of the employer, the employee has the right to appeal to the labor court in order to decide by the court whether the employer’s act was lawful.
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