webinar
Vaccinations in the Workplace
- When can an employer mandate vaccinations?
- What are the legal risks and how can an employer mitigate these?
- 45 min on-demand webinar
- $45 AUD, instant access



Course overview
Vaccinations in the Workplace
Currently across Australia many employers are considering whether they should mandate that their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. In the absence of a broad-ranging Federal Government mandate for workers, of the type in force under the Biden administration in the US, employers must rely either on a public health order in the relevant State or Territory which tends to cover narrow classes of workers or they must ensure it is lawful and reasonable (in the absence of having an express contractual right to direct).
If the employer is considering introducing the mandate based on a lawful and reasonable direction it is important to consider a number of issues ranging from the individual’s circumstances and whether there is any ‘legitimate’ exemption to the workplace and what is required to ensure that an employer’s statutory work health and safety duties are discharged. The risk of legal action is also a relevant consideration.
Can the termination of employment or refusal to employ based on non-vaccination be unfair or unlawful and if so how does an employer protect against these? Since September 2021 with the proliferation of public health orders and the lifting of restrictions across jurisdictions workplace lawyer Kathryn Dent has advised numerous employers on their options and assisted them in developing and implementing strategies and documentation to give effect to the company policy, whatever that may be, that is whether or not to mandate vaccinations.
Questions this webinar will answer:
· When can an employer mandate vaccinations?
· What would make a mandate lawful and reasonable?
· What steps should an employer take where an employee is unwilling to be vaccinated?
· What are the legal risks and how does an employer mitigate these?
· What is the relevance and significance of the recent cases in aged care flu vaccinations and challenges to public health orders?
· How do employers reduce risks with the future workforce?
This session was originally presented during the MyKludo Virtual Investigations Conference held 6-8 December 2021.

Presenter
Kathryn Dent
Kathryn Dent is a Partner at HWB Lawyers. Kathryn has had extensive experience as a workplace relations lawyer. For more than 20 years she has advised and represented employers in non-litigious as well as litigious labor and employment law matters. Her experience spans a range of industries including education, insurance, construction, real estate and property, hospitality, manufacturing and local government.
Kathryn is regularly engaged to investigate and mediate workplace disputes and to deliver corporate training including to Boards and senior executives.