Press Release Council Introduces Vaccine Requirement for Staff
PRESS RELEASE
Grey District Council Introduces Vaccine Requirement for Staff
Following the Covid-19 role risk assessments conducted in December 2021, it has been determined that all Council roles are required to be fully vaccinated by 25 February 2022.
The Council’s focus throughout the pandemic has been on protecting staff and community whilst continuing essential services.
The nature of Council means that significant numbers of staff are frequently interacting with the public and across different teams within the Council. We supply essential services to the community so it is important for us to do what we can to keep people safe – and vaccination is the best first line of defence.
As Council has an obligation under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 to provide a work environment that limits risks to health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable.
Overall service levels are expected to be largely unaffected by the vaccination requirement.
These decisions have not been taken lightly. While community transmission of Covid-19 is very difficult to prevent we know that slowing transmission down will mean that the demands on the health system and the disruption of workforce absences can be better managed.
The emergence of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant in the South Island has elevated the risk to our staff and our community. Following the move to the RED traffic light setting on the Covid-19 Protection Framework, staff who are able to work from home fully and productively are being encouraged to do so and all Council meetings will be conducted via Zoom.
We are taking this action to ensure that the impact on council is minimised, should Covid-19 affect our staff, and allow Council to continue to provide services to customers.
Some Council offices may need to offer reduced hours to accommodate staff absences. This will be clearly advertised should it occur.
Council staff at community and recreation centres were already required to be fully vaccinated under the Government vaccination mandate.
Read the Covid19 Protection Framework here
ENDS
Website: www.greydc.govt.nz/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GreyDC
Contact:
Grey District Council
03 769 8600
