Standard Bank withdraws mandatory vax policy
Standard Bank has withdrawn its Covid-19 mandatory vaccination policy just days after finance union Sasbo vowed to challenge the lender’s dismissal of at least 40 of its members for not complying with the policy.
A Business Day report says Africa’s biggest lender by assets said yesterday it has withdrawn the policy ‘with immediate effect’ as 95% of its employees are already vaccinated against Covid-19.
On Friday Sasbo demanded that Standard Bank repeal its vaccine mandate, which the union said required all staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by April 2022 or face dismissal.
Standard Bank said in its statement yesterday it would be ‘revising some of its safety measures and the existing Covid-19 policy and protocols’.
In reviewing its policy, the bank took a range of factors into account, including recent regulatory developments, the current state of the pandemic in SA, and the high vaccination rate among its employees.
‘Based on the current context of the pandemic, we believe that our vaccination policy is no longer required,’ said Standard Bank SA CEO Lungisa Fuzile.
‘Consequentially, it is no longer compulsory for employees to be vaccinated, or to produce a negative PCR or rapid antigen test if they are unvaccinated, in order to enter our premises.’
Meanwhile, Old Mutual is one of several companies that Sasbo wants to take to the Labour Court for dismissing employees who refused to vaccinate.
A Fin24 report says the company let go of 49 people due to incapacity after they refused to be vaccinated.
Old Mutual announced its mandatory vaccination policy last year with 90% of its staff being able to produce vaccine certificates by the set deadline.
The company said it engaged staff several times highlighting the alternative options of regular PCR testing and extended the compliance date and exemption process.
The company abolished the policy on 22 June and suspended the incapacity hearings process.
Sasbo is already fighting the case of 40 Standard Bank employees who were dismissed for not being vaccinated by its set deadline.
Sasbo has avoided going to the CCMA because of its inconsistent rulings when it comes to mandatory vaccination.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
