The deadline for Victoria's essential workers to receive at least one COVID-19 vaccination to work on site has passed, with employers now required to turn unvaccinated staff away.
Many Ai Group members are contacting us expressing concern that some workers are refusing to be vaccinated, he said.
Skilled and experienced employees are at a premium and some businesses are at their wit's end trying to decide what to do.
They are literally between a rock and a hard place, he said.
While Victoria's broad vaccine mandate has been welcomed by the majority of essential workers, some who refuse to get the jab have lost their jobs or have been suspended without pay.
The public health directions impose an obligation on employers, rather than employees, requiring businesses to prevent staff from working away from home.
I really feel for small and medium sized businesses, navigating all these competing issues, employment lawyer Natalie Gaspar told ABC Radio Melbourne.
Never in my legal career have I ever seen an intersection of really complex ideas — state public health orders, you've got work health and safety obligations, there's privacy considerations, there's discrimination considerations — and it's all moving so quickly.
So yeah, it's really challenging.
Since National Cabinet announced it required vaccination for aged care workers earlier this month, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) has seen a small number of its members refuse a shot.
We have been open and transparent with members about these directives, the union's Victorian branch assistant secretary Paul Gilbert said.
Like any workforce we have some members who will not, under any circumstances, take up the vaccination. It is difficult to establish how many members fall into that category, but it would be in the 100s rather than 1000s.
Given the CHO directive, these members will not be allowed to work on-site, and for many that will regrettably mean they risk losing their employment.
Required vaccination for nursing, midwifery, and aged care work is not a new concept for ANMF members. Having up-to-date immunisations is a requirement for all student nurses and midwives before their first clinical placement.
Mr Gilbert said members had been advised about a number of unfair dismissal cases that were taken to the Fair Work Commission, where the commission found the employer's vaccination requirement to be a reasonable direction.
The Fair Work Ombudsman, which provides advice and enforces workplace laws, told the ABC it was unable to comment on the specifics of any queries.
Ms Gaspar, a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, said while the Chief Health Officer directions now forbade unvaccinated workers from arriving on site, that doesn't mean that you automatically need to sack them.
In a quirk of the way the directions are issued, the current mandate is only in place for another week, but then is likely to be extended. Unlike in New South Wales, there is no set date for when the mandate might be lifted.
Because of that, Ms Gaspar said standing workers down or forcing them to take leave was within the rules while it was an interim order, but a dismissal at this stage could be deemed unfair if the employee had leave they could utilise.
