DLP advises bosses to encourage, not force, vaccine

| 06/08/2021 | 167 Comments
Cayman News Service
Airport Vaccine Clinic

(CNS): As the question over whether or not employers can force their workers to be vaccinated continues to fuel public debate, the Department of Labour and Pensions has issued some general guidance on COVID-19 vaccination policies for employers and the impact on existing and potential employees, as well as data protection issues relating to vaccination status.

While employers have a legal responsibility to ensure the health and safety of their employees as far as reasonably possible, the department warned that engaging in a policy to mandate vaccination could raise several legal issues if employers take punitive, disciplinary or discriminatory action when an employee refuses to be vaccinated.

Even though some form of determined action is going to be needed to move the vaccination rate, which remains stalled at 68% and several thousand people short of government’s 80% target, the department pointed out that unless there is a contractual requirement for workers to be vaccinated, employers need the consent of their employees.

The guidelines instead suggest that employers help their staff make an informed decision through education with independent factual information about the risks associated with COVID-19 and the specific impact on the workplace. “Employers should assist employees by explaining the benefits of vaccination, and encourage and employees to be vaccinated,” the department said.

There are currently no regulations in place concerning compulsory vaccination and any employer considering introducing a blanket mandatory vaccination policy needs to be wary of the implications of then disciplining existing staff that refuse to take the shots. “Employers should approach the taking of disciplinary action with caution since dismissing an employee is not without legal risk,” the DLP warned.

Some employees may have a legitimate basis for declining the vaccine irrespective of their work environment and employers need to consider their ability to mitigate the safety threat instead.

“Consideration should also be given to whether mandatory vaccination is a reasonable way to deal with the potential risk of exposure to the virus in specific circumstances and whether alternative measures could be taken to mitigate the risk,” the department advises.

As a number of local companies now consider moving from incentives to mandating the shots, concerns are being raised that there are potential legal ramifications over a person’s right to choose whether they are given medical treatment or not, as well as issues relating to their data protection by being forced to expose their vaccination status, since this is medical data and constitutes “sensitive personal data” under the Data Protection Act.

The Cayman Islands Government is not mandating vaccination for public sector workers and has chosen a path of encouragement, even for front-line staff. From Monday, as government lifts the requirement for verified vaccinated travellers to isolate for five days at home without the tagging system, all unvaccinated front-line workers that may interact with travellers will be tested at least weekly.

See the DLP guidelines in the CNS Library.


Share your vote!


How do you feel after reading this?
  • Fascinated
  • Happy
  • Sad
  • Angry
  • Bored
  • Afraid

Tags: , ,

Category: Business

Comments (167)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Anonymous says:

    This is why vaccination ought to be mandatory for people dealing with the public.

    “Amid increased fears that children are now both victims and vectors of the latest Covid-19 variant surge, National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins signaled on Sunday that increasing numbers of children are falling ill in the US.

    His comments also came as one of America’s largest teachers unions appeared to shift its position on mandatory vaccinations for teachers.

    With about 90 million adult Americans remaining unvaccinated, and vaccines remaining unauthorised for 12 years and under, Collins told ABC News This Week with George Stephanopoulos that “the largest number of children so far in the whole pandemic right now are in the hospital, 1,450 kids in the hospital from Covid-19.”

  2. Anonymous says:

    There’s a strong element of Darwinism at play here, if the 68% are right and the vaccine is harmless long term then they win for being the strongest and most intelligent specie.

    If the eligible 32% are indeed right, given their extensive research on Facebook and Youtube, and the 68% all die off – then they can warmly congratulation themselves for being the smarter specie.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Remember: taking the jab ISN’T a 1x thing…… it includes boosters and annual re- vax’ing….. this is what’s disturbing: too many jabs in place of strong natural immunity and the outcome will be similar to the over use of antibiotics ……

  4. Anonymous says:

    Unable to understand what DLP direction to employers and employees. If employer cant ask for vaccination how can he ask for medical form to apply for work permit.
    Why Govt medical form for both caymanians and non caymanians has vaccination questions. Why they test for HIv.
    All these too are discrimination. Is Travel Cayman procedure not discrimination . Yes it is needed. So why DLP saying employers dont enforce vaccination certificate when they are trying to help Govt.
    DLP pl review ur guidance.

  5. Anonymous says:

    It is time to get this over with. Let the Delta variant in and let’s see how smart the unvaccinated really are.

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree but my children can’t get vaccinated yet so I’m still worried. I think that’s the conversation we really need to have as it seems this government has no clue what to do.

    • Anonymous says:

      No. Better idea. Lets keep things as they are.

  6. Anonymous says:

    The gentleman has rightly referred to sections of public health law that employers have the responsibility to protect public health. If he doesnt take steps he is guilty. DLP says he is guilty if he take preventive steps. Paradoxical. All laws r complimentary. If Labour law doesnt have mandatory vaccination it doesnt mean we should employ unvaccinated. If that is discrimination 5 day quarantine to vaccinated is discrimination.
    Public health should not check hotels r restaurents for safe food practice as it will be discrimination. I wonder where we r going. How come a Govt Dep give such direction. Did they have legal opinion. If we dont want to follow scientific evidence based practices God only can save us similar to some one who doesnt want trt but depends on God. God can send helicafter, but if we decline we will get drowned.
    Let us be logical and God will help us.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Who’s down with DLP? Nope, not me.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Having read the ‘Guidance’ that is anything but, I have to ask, why did the DLP cite the wrong version of the Public Health Act and omit the section of the Public Health Act that makes it a criminal offence for employers to adopt practices that may spread any infectious disease. Clearly Covid is an infectious disease and equally clearly allowing unvaccinated employees to mix with other staff and customers may spread disease at any time the virus is in the community? Was that an enormous oversight by whoever wrote the ‘Guidance’ or does someone in the DLP have an agenda?

  9. Anonymous says:

    Here we are in the middle of a pandemic and the DLP focuses on platitudes, the lack of anything relevant in the Labour Act, together with the Data Protection Act while completely ignoring the relevant section of the Public Health Act.

  10. Anonymous says:

    put that in your pipe and smoke it ALT. Lawsuits en route

  11. Anonymous says:

    It’s always a joy to hear from these people. Such useful advice to the employers.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Keeping forcing, my lawyer is ready.

  13. Anonymous says:

    And stop giving preferential treatment to vaccinated at the border. Same quarantine for everybody. Justifying anything else is quackery.

    • Anonymous says:

      Idiot dislikers. What don’t you understand? CDC has just fully disclosed catching and spreading virus is NO DIFFERENT between vaxxed and unvaxxed. As of tomorrow, when quarantine of vaxxed drops to 5 days, watch the repercussions. Even though Delta is just more transmissable but NO MORE DANGEROUS, it’s the community cases that will allow CIG to lock us down again.

      • Anonymous says:

        That is ridiculous. I suspect that you are a troll but in the offchance that your are just misguided, please provide a citation to the publication where the CDC states what you have indicated. PS – you won’t find it as it does not exist.

        • Anonymous says:

          I guess you’ve not been able to keep up or can’t accept the latest CDC findings. Here’s an article from the Washington Post regarding the CDC slides.

          “It cites a combination of recently obtained, still-unpublished data from outbreak investigations and outside studies showing that vaccinated individuals infected with delta may be able to transmit the virus as easily as those who are unvaccinated. Vaccinated people infected with delta have measurable viral loads similar to those who are unvaccinated and infected with the variant.”
          https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/29/cdc-mask-guidance/
          The Delta V is now the most predominant strain. I suspect this is only the beginning of the revelations to come showing that vaccines will not stop the spread. Stand by for studies showing more dangerous variants survive in the 100s of millions of vaccinated individuals and have a distinct chance to therefore create super strains that are resistant to vaccine efficacy entirely. Plenty of scientists have warned against trying to universally vaccine our way out of an ongoing pandemic. It’s precisely how you create a super virus. Perhaps it would be a good idea for you and others to make an attempt to look at opinions other than those endorsed and paid for by pharmaceutical manufacturers in order to get at least a balanced data set to consider. I’m vaccinated by the way.

          • Anonymous says:

            Rather than link to an out of context part of an article in the Washington Post, try looking at the CDC website itself.

            There you will find the following:

            “Although breakthrough infections happen much less often than infections in unvaccinated people, individuals infected with the Delta variant, including fully vaccinated people with symptomatic breakthrough infections, can transmit it to others. CDC is continuing to assess data on whether fully vaccinated people with asymptomatic breakthrough infections can transmit. However, the greatest risk of transmission is among unvaccinated people who are much more likely to contract, and therefore transmit the virus.”

            https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/delta-variant.html

          • Anonymous says:

            You miss out a critical step by jumping straight to the comparison between a breakthrough case and an unvaccinated victim. The risks of community transmission are different. CDC says you are 8 times less likely to catch the disease if you are vaccinated. Cant transmit it if you don’t catch it.

        • Anonymous says:

          The CDC has lost credibility at this point, no point in relying on their seal of approval. Look at the outbreaks in Iceland and Israel where there is still a semblance of free press and you will find the vaccines don’t work at stopping infections. In Iceland the vaccinated are getting hospitalized at a rate of over 1% per case, which isn’t great but better than unvaccinated. If you’re in a high risk group and expect to get infected the vaccine should help you. For young folks the math is not clear at all.

          And one more point. If you vaccinate the entire population with just 1 vaccine with a fairly high risk safety profile that hasn’t been truly tested long term you have no back up plan. If sh*t hits the fan with for example vaccine induced ADE or autoimmune disease your entire population could get decimated. As a redundancy plan you should want some people to not take this vaccine or at least take a different one.

          • Anonymous says:

            This is amazing/coherent commentary. If only the government or anyone in a decision making position was thinking/talking like this.

            • Gullible says:

              I love the way the poster says CDC has lost credibility, but you are happy to take the word of some anonymous poster on CNS without any knowledge whatsoever of their medical qualifications lol.

        • Anonymous says:

          A growing body of evidence indicates that people fully vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) are less likely than unvaccinated persons to acquire SARS-CoV-2 or to transmit it to others. However, the risk for SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus.

          Lets keep things as they are.

      • Anonymous says:

        Idiot or troll or idiot troll – only 3 possibilities.

        • Anonymous says:

          Fourth possibility; clever person deliberately being disingenuous and selective in their citation in order to support their personal views on vaccination.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Bravo, that’s some sensible thinking. The cat is out of the bag and even the UK says vaccines don’t stop the spread anymore. When the facts change you should change your mind so get rid of all this vaccinated vs unvaccinated nonsense. Unless you think it’s good idea to also discriminate based on the flu shot, old age etc.

  15. Anonymous says:

    Good job DLP. Employers are charging ahead without any consideration for the legal implications of their actions. Employees affected by the actions of their employers or potential employers should seek advice from the DPL if they have concerns.

  16. Anonymous says:

    We want 80 percent to open up. We dont want to mandate any. We dont want to support businesses to adopt protective measures. Contradictory.

    • Anonymous says:

      Open up to a worldwide plague? We are very lucky at the moment. Why the rush to open up and bring Delta Covid here? Why can’t things continue as they are. Lets pivot away from tourism and jewellery shops.

      • Anonymous says:

        I work in financial services, and can tell you that the limitations on travel are already impacting our business too. We have to compete with other offshore jurisdictions, who are free to travel and market to clients, and compete for the pool of global talent working in the field who have no desire to be locked up on island. What are we going to pivot to – what’s the economic engine for the econ9omy that can survive a closed birder indefinitely?

  17. Gideon Barnett, M.D. says:

    The DLP has started on the right road. However, it does not go far enough. All healthcare workers, including the nurses who give the injections, HSA, the Minister of Health, the HSA Board, and the parents of minors have a legal obligation for informed consent with all its facets and ramifications. It is ingrained In English law.

  18. Anonymous says:

    In super markets the employees come in contact with 1000s of people every day. The chance of their exposure is high. If an unvaccinated employee becomes symptomatic he has high viral load by that time and might have exposed others and whether colleagues r customers may become sick. Hence it is not desirable to employ unvaccinated in high contact with public is not good. If govt says it is punitive discriminatory doesnt make sence.This may spoil our school vaccination programmes .
    I dont support mandatory vaccination but support mandating only vaccinated staff in health sector tourism or any public contact places. Also mandating as entry requirement to public places.
    Irrespective 80 percent or not this should occur to protect public health.

    • Anonymous says:

      Exactly. I don’t understand why the anti-vaxxers don’t understand that when the borders open we will be inundated with the Delta virus and people will start getting sick and some will die. Can you imagine going to Fosters and the cashier or any other employee has covid and your child who can’t be vaccinated catches covid..Should we sue Fosters or should we encourage these people to get themselves vaccinated for those who can’t especially those kids under 12.

      Come on people we don’t need a resurgence of this virus. We don’t need any of us to die. i don’t want to hear the old line that 99% survive covid. If that 1% is yours or my child and they die, will it matter what percentage it is?

      • Anonymous says:

        Of course we would sue the supermarket if they had an unvaccinated frontline worker that spread the virus. That is why they are going to have to ensure all their frontline workers are vaccinated. Same for healthcare workers. The DLP should recognize that and guide the employers of frontline workers accordingly.

        • Anonymous says:

          You don’t know it was the worker though, it would be anyone you came into contact with, so your case would be laughed right out of the court room. There would be no way to prove without a doubt that it was worker and knot another patron, or sally you had lunch with 2 days ago.

        • Anonymous says:

          You have no way of proving that it was one of their workers so you have no case. Lame ass

        • Anonymous says:

          Omg, you are so dumb. If they wind up sick there is a good chance they could have caught it from your vaccinated super spreader ass. They should sue you.

  19. Anonymous says:

    Doesn’t this contradict the policy of mandating it for those on work permits? Everyone eligible for a vaccine should take one.

    Hopefully when the island begins to open and we get cases this will encourage the remainder to get vaccinated. It really beggars believe (or does it?!) that so many countries across the world are crying out for the vaccine and here in Cayman we need to bribe and coerce.

    • Anonymous says:

      Its not necessary to bribe as people have a right to make their own decisions and should not be coerced, forced in any way shape or form to take any vaccine which hasn’t been approved by FDA. People have woken up to what is happening and for the past 17 months there have been flights to 4 destinations and they can’t/ shouldn’t be referred to as repatriation flights anymore. Pure racket running and a handful profiting from it. Nonsense has to STOP

    • Anonymous says:

      “Hopefully when the island begins to open and we get cases this will encourage the remainder to get vaccinated.” Just a few deaths then?
      We don’t have community transmission because of the measures we have in place. You want to bring a world wide plague to Cayman so that you are not inconvenienced or you want the same deaths and locks downs as elsewhere. Why? So you don’t have to stay at home when you come back from Miami?

  20. Anonymous says:

    Thank you DLP! #straightfacts

  21. round and round in circles we go says:

    We have run out of “carrots”. Its now time for the big stick.

  22. Anonymous says:

    DLP would be better served using this down time to catch up with all their delinquent Caymanian business owners.

  23. Anonymous says:

    Only in Cayman – legal obligation on employers to prevent the spread of Covid and DLP saying that employers should avoid taking the steps most likely to be successful in preventing the spread of Covid.

  24. Anonymous says:

    LMAOROFL – This is the first time that I have ever seen a total disclaimer published at both the top and the bottom of the page. Having read it though I can see why.

    • Anonymous says:

      Agree….it is total stupidity and whoever wrote this, should be ashamed of themselves. This is a complete waste of CIG time and resources.

      Dosent DLP have a mountain of pensions and labour complaints to deal with rather than this farce of FAQ.

  25. Anonymous says:

    In case somebody at the DLP reads, the DLP mis-guided reference to the 2002 Public Health Law is 19 years out of date. Try to keep up.

    Here is a link to the current version of the Public Health Act which btw requires employers to minimise the potential for the spread of infectious diseases. That legislation clearly did not factor into your mis-guidance.

    https://legislation.gov.ky/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/1981/1981-0006/PublicHealthAct_2021%20Revision.pdf

  26. Anonymous says:

    Shame on all those hardworking business owners in our community.
    As noted in the DLP’s garbled guidelines

    “there is no provision in the Labour Act (2021 Revision) regarding the protection of employees from the transmission of communicable diseases.”

    That absence of needed provisions in the Labour Act in relation to a pandemic that is 18 months old is clearly the fault of business as the politicians were too occupied with giving themselves raises to do anything else.

    • Anonymous says:

      3;34 pm, i hope u don’t get the Covid and then Holler i no have any money so the Government got to give me free hospital treatment, you sounds like one of those people. Be careful my friend.

  27. Anonymous says:

    Love the DLP’s guidance which begins with:

    “You should not rely upon the material or information in this document to make any business, legal, or other decisions.”

  28. Anonymous says:

    Clearly no one at the DLP took the time to read section 26 of the Public Health Law.

    26.Whoever—….engages in any occupation connected with food or carries on any trade or business in such a manner as to be likely to spread (an) infectious disease…

    is guilty of an offence.

    Allowing unvaccinated and untested employees to come into contact with customers or other staff once we open and Covid arrives is likely to spread an infectious disease.

    Employers should warn their staff that once community spread resumes unvaccinated employees will have to be put on unpaid leave for the duration.

  29. Anonymous says:

    How about all private sector employers should ‘offshore’ all possible jobs to jurisdictions where common sense exists.

  30. Anonymous says:

    Very unhelpful DPL.

  31. Anonymous says:

    Got it – all employers can do is say pretty please and then get blamed when Covid spreads in workplaces.

  32. Anonymous says:

    Employees who have contact with the public or other employees but who do not want to be vaccinated should have the option of daily pre-work PCR tests at their own expense. Everybody happy?

    • Anonymous says:

      You can’t force anything on anybody so Please be reminded of that. Its not an employee responsibility to pay for a PCR test and should be who is asking for it. Remember no Coercing, forcing nor scaremongering

  33. Anonymous says:

    It seems that government has ordered that the vaccination program is to fail. Why am I surprised.

  34. Anonymous says:

    It is too much to expect that government could clarify the situation by declaring a public health emergency which requires that unvaccinated workers should not have contact with other workers or the public.

  35. Anonymous says:

    Let me guess, the vaccination rate among senior management in the DLP is in single digits because they are concerned with the microchips put in the vaccine by the lizard people/Bill Gates.

  36. Anonymous says:

    Clearly somebody in the DLP hopes to keep people unvaccinated and the island shut.

  37. Anonymous says:

    F’ing ridiculous. So if an employee is unvaccinated and spreads Covid then the employer is in breach of their responsibility but if the employer requires vaccination in order to protect the health of employees and customers then the employer may also be in breach of their responsibilities.

    • Anonymous says:

      No different than if an employee is fully vaccinated and spreads Covid. The onus is upon the employers to utilise accepted measures to help mitigate spread, such as masks, and hand washing.

  38. Anonymous says:

    Where is the Ombudsman on the issue of data protection and collection of vaccination status info in the workplace? All we are hearing from that office, when we need their guidance most, is the sound of crickets.

    • Anonymous says:

      Doesn’t the Ombudsman also investigate maladministration? Does publishing ‘guidance’ with clear errors count?

      • Anonymous says:

        Normally I might agree but at leat DLP is trying. (Failing, perhaps, but trying.) The Ombudsman re data protection direction, as noted by the OP … failing by not even trying.

  39. Anonymous says:

    Government, as usual, avoids the issue at hand.

  40. Anonymous says:

    “all vaccinated front-line workers that may interact with travellers will be tested at least weekly.”

    Or unvaccinated?

  41. Mumbichi says:

    Damn right it could raise “legal issues”. People need to think of all this within light of a historical context,

  42. Anonymous says:

    What a surprise! Business owners don’t want to loose everything they have worked decades for due to a few ignorant mouth breathers. Shocking!

  43. Anonymous says:

    As a tourist, I will feel must safer traveling to a destination where the frontline has a mandatory vaccination policy. It may not be a popular decision, but for my health the health of the Cayman Island community, and the health of all travelers, it is the right decision. I live in an area where covid was raging and once we were vaccinated back in March, our numbers of covid dropped significantly. The vaccine works.

    • Anonymous says:

      Thanks for your input. I love the feeling of living safely in a community that is not under threat of people who want to tell me what medical treatment I should receive even at the expense of adverse reaction so that they can come and hang out on my now degrading seven mile beach…stay exactly where you are; I am perfectly happy right here in the cayman islands right now.

  44. the void says:

    I have a Master’s degree in immunology and still have to debate daily with social media scientists about the benefits of vaccination..

    We’ll never reach 80% when half of the population believes in talking snakes and that a man split an ocean with a stick.

    Open the damn borders.

    • Anonymous says:

      speak for yourself. others have had serious side effects from vaccinations. and if none are to die from covid then none are to die from vaccines. life is life.

  45. Anonymous says:

    The DLP don’t know their own ass from a hole in the ground.

    • Beaumont Zodecloun says:

      No. That is a determination of which you alone can ascertain. Please continue your comparative study and feel free to share your results, thus sparing the rest of us from the uncomfortable business of comparing our asses to a hole in the ground (although I hazard a guess that it must certainly be an easy call to make).

  46. Anonymous says:

    Offer a 2nd pension fund WITHDRAWAL from those grossly incompetent over charging pensions as an incentive for the unvaccinated to get the vaccine. Fat cat multi millionaire owners of those pensions blatantly ripping off pensioners with their 1.5% MER. WHAT A JOKE. I want that motha f*ckin cash in my trading account it doesn’t take rocket scientist to see the stark difference of a simple $7 Index ETF MASSIVELY outperforming those leech pensions returns

  47. Say it ain’t so…….. says:

    Geesum piece, here we have a govt department that can’t resolve a simple labor matter giving advise on health subjects. You simply cannot make the chit up. So based on their advice, employers cannot fire someone who refuses to take the vaccine, but govt can refuse a work permit for someone who is not vaccinated. Hmmmmmmm……sounds a bit confusing and contradictory to me. Hope they ready for the influx of fired employees over the next few weeks,

    • Beaumont Zodecloun says:

      They aren’t giving heath advice. They are giving legal advice as it pertains to Labour Law.

      • Anonymous says:

        Actually the DLP’s published disclaimer says that the Guidance cannot be relied on for anything let alone legal advice. This is a quote:

        “You should not rely upon the material or information in this document to make any business, legal, or other decisions.”

    • Anonymous says:

      Lol – it’s jeesum peas.

  48. Anonymous says:

    first they came for the…….

  49. Anonymous says:

    Government: Don’t discriminate against unvaccinated employees.

    Also Government: Discrimante against unvaccinated expat employees.

    • Anonymous says:

      Racism is alive and well in the Cayman Islands, and fully supported and encouraged by the government.

  50. Anonymous says:

    At some point everyone that can, barring a medical reason will be forced to get vaccinated or succumb to infection, isolation and most likely death. Should a deadly variant get here many people will succumb and probably die if not vaccinated with new and improved vaccines. DLP are acting out of their mandate to protect workplaces. Direction needs to come from the Chief Medical Officer and that’s the bottom line.

    • Anonymous says:

      “Should”? I would say “when”. Worse and as each variant focuses more and more on unvaccinated, Cayman will be a tinderbox when it arrives. The islands will have to shut down and in-home quarantine due to very limited hospital capacity. The saving grace is nearly 90% of those 50+ yrs old are vaccinated.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.