Bosses want to know who has Covid-19 jab

Nurse Joan Love with AstraZeneca at the HSE Vaccination Centre in the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

Sarah Collins

April 12 2021 11:46 AM

Employers want to know if their workers are vaccinated against Covid-19 but are wary of the privacy implications.

The vast majority of firms (84pc) would like to be told which of their employees has been jabbed and which hasn’t, a survey by the Association of Compliance Officers of Ireland (ACOI) has found.

But an overwhelming 96pc believe that the EU’s general data protection regulation (GDPR), which came into force in 2018, will make it very difficult (37pc), will need to be modified (20pc) or clarified (39pc) in order to allow them to collect vaccination information.

The GDPR enshrines EU citizens’ rights to obtain, erase and rectify the data that organisations hold on them, and requires a much stronger consent procedure for companies when they are collecting data.

“Employers are facing a minefield in this regard, with the prospect of intruding on privacy issues and the restrictions placed on them by GDPR adding hugely to the challenge presented,” said Michael Kavanagh, the CEO of ACOI.

“GDPR wasn’t written with a pandemic in mind and, consequently, over half of compliance professionals believe that the GDPR legislation will either need to be amended or clear guidance will need to be issued.”

While 70pc of employers have not yet decided whether they will collected this kind of data, they have discussed it, the survey found.

Out of the 84pc of firms who would like to know about their employees’ vaccination status, 42pc believe employers should be given that information only in firms where it is riskier for employees to catch the coronavirus.

According to an August 2020 survey for the EU’s centre for disease control, the riskiest workplaces are long-term care facilities, hospitals and food packaging and processing plants.

Another 42pc of firms felt that they should be aware of their workers’ vaccination status, regardless of whether the workplace carries a greater risk.

Only 16pc of firms believe that employers should not have access to such information about their employees.

"Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all answer to the challenges posed, and increasing clarity on the issue will be required as more of the workforce begins to avail of the national vaccine rollout over the coming months,” said Mr Kavanagh.

The survey of more than 300 businesses was sent to ACOI members with responsibility for compliance in financial firms.