Every employer in Hong Kong should consider how the vaccination programme could impact its business and which questions it may face from employees and customers.

Companies face a new set of challenges as countries implement their COVID-19 vaccination plans. Covering several major jurisdictions, this Legal Update summarizes key vaccine information for employers, such as the availability of vaccines, the rights of employers to require vaccination or proof thereof and measures that could be taken against employees refusing to be vaccinated.

The Hong Kong government announced on 1 February 2021 that it will lower the threshold for compulsory COVID-19 testing. A sudden directive for compulsory testing and suspension of operation of a workplace will be disruptive. What should employers do to prepare for the (unfortunate) situation where it occurs?

Eager to return to a “safe” normality after almost a whole year of pandemic restrictions, some employers have gone so far as to commit to a mandatory “no jab, no job” policy. This has raised many questions as to the legality of enforcing a mandatory vaccine policy among staff.

A vaccine against Sars-CoV-2 (the “Corona virus”) will hopefully be available soon. The German labor law requirements regarding a vaccination for employees and a possible obligation to vaccinate are already largely clear.

As vaccines for COVID-19 become more accessible to the US public, employers are considering whether to implement vaccination policies.

Although the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines may be more important to certain employers (such as those in health care), employers in all industries should monitor the development of the Government’s vaccine roll-out program, as the vaccine concerns public health. In this Legal Update, we answer some of the questions that employers may have.

The Hong Kong Government’s goal is to provide COVID-19 vaccines for the majority of the Hong Kong population during 2021 through its own vaccination programmes.