Unvaccinated risk losing jobs in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Workers in Singapore who refuse to be inoculated against COVID-19 may risk losing their jobs as new restrictions on office access take effect.

From Saturday, a prior concession that allowed unvaccinated employees who test negative to go to workplaces will be removed, according to a government advisory.

Employers can redeploy those with no jabs to suitable jobs that can be done from home, place them on no-pay leave, or as a last resort, fire them if they cannot perform their contracted work outside the office. Singapore’s inoculation rate is among the world’s highest and it has adopted a strict nationwide approach against the unvaccinated. The nation bars them from restaurants and shopping malls in a push to prevent the risks of the virus spreading and over-burdening its healthcare system. At the same time, the country has stuck to a gradual reopening path, dropping its default work-from-home stance this month.

“If you think about it, if all the 48,000 were infected with COVID-19, it would indeed impact on our healthcare system,” said Rahayu Mahzam, the Ministry of Health’s Parliamentary Secretary, referring to the number of workers who had not taken any vaccine dose as of January 2 and who make up less than 2% of the total workforce.

– THE MALAY MAIL