NCB further delays vax-or-test policy
Published:Thursday | November 11, 2021 | 12:12 AM
The National Commercial Bank (NCB) has extended the suspension of its vaccine-or-test policy to next week Friday, following a conciliatory meeting with its staff association and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security on Monday.
The parties are expected to meet within two weeks to work out a solution to the company’s new mandatory policy, which has been met with resistance by some staff members.
NCB required that staff either take the COVID-19 vaccine or submit weekly negative polymerase chain reaction tests, at their expense, to the management of their unit.
The bank said that in the event that an employee is unable to produce a current result, “that employee will be unable to attend work”.
The company had said that the policy applied to both face-to-face and remote employees.
On Wednesday, staff association President Paul Stewart told The Gleaner that 80 per cent of employees across the NCB group have received at least one dose of the C0VID-19 vaccine.
“It takes time. Some people don’t make up them mind yet. We have said to them, unnu responsible if anything wrong with the staff? Unnu liable because unnu forcing this thing on them?” Stewart said.
Vaccine manufacturers have sought the passage of legislation indemnifying them against civil litigation.
Suggesting that hesitancy was not widespread, Stewart said that more than 400 people turned out at a recent vaccination drive at the bank’s wellness centre.
“So it’s not a situation that people don’t want to be vaccinated. Some of them are not ready ... . They have actually suspended the request for the test and virtually everything is on hold,” he said.
NCB first communicated the policy to staff in a circular on October 12.
Employees were required to share their vaccination cards with department heads by October 31 as proof that they were either partially or fully vaccinated.
It first suspended the policy a week ago.