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New bill to allow Polish employers to check if staff are jabbed

17.11.2021 19:30
Lawmakers from Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party have submitted legislation to enable employers across the country to check if their staff are vaccinated against COVID-19, news media reported on Wednesday. 
Lawmakers from Polands ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party have proposed new rules under which employers would be allowed to check if their staff are vaccinated against COVID-19.
Lawmakers from Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party have proposed new rules under which employers would be allowed to check if their staff are vaccinated against COVID-19. PAP/Wojtek Jargiło

Unveiling the bill at a news briefing, Law and Justice MP Czesław Hoc said the proposal had been drawn up as "an initiative by the employers," public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency reported. 

Hoc added the proposed law had been drafted "out of responsibility and common sense, in the interests of public health and the economy." 

The bill consists of three central provisions, the lawmakers told reporters.

First, employers would be allowed to check the vaccination status of staff members, "but without being able to negatively adjust their pay or employment status," Hoc stressed. 

However, employers would be entitled to move the unvaccinated from customer-facing positions such as checkouts to warehouse jobs, for example, Hoc said, as quoted by the IAR news agency. 

Second, companies with fully jabbed workforces would be exempt from all COVID-19-related restrictions, the lawmakers told the news conference.

And third, healthcare providers would be allowed to make vaccination compulsory for their workers under the bill, they said, adding that employers in other sectors would not be able to do so.

Hoc said he hoped Poland's parliament would begin debating the bill at a session starting on December 1, the state PAP news agency reported.

Polish conservative lawmaker Czesław Hoc, a medical doctor by education. Polish conservative lawmaker Czesław Hoc, a medical doctor by education. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

By Wednesday, Poland had administered more than 40 million coronavirus vaccine shots, while almost 20.2 million people had been fully inoculated, health ministry data showed.

Poland on Wednesday reported 24,239 new coronavirus infections and 463 more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the country's total number of cases during the pandemic to 3,254,875 and fatalities to 79,624.

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP