With the UK’s coronavirus vaccination programme well under way - at the time of writing over 20 million people have received at least their first dose – attention is increasingly turning to the possibility of “vaccine passports” to allow foreign travel, to permit attendance at sports or music events, or even to allow entry to pubs, restaurants or gyms. However, concerns have been expressed around discrimination and around a refusal to be vaccinated (perhaps for good reason), preventing an individual from taking part in society.
We are taking a break from Covid and furlough-related issues to look at an important Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision on harassment (though the EAT does manage to refer to coronavirus in its decision).
As we are all very much aware, restrictions have been tightened since the start of the year. Various types of business (hospitality, non-essential retail etc.) must remain closed. For others, where there is no specific requirement to close, and where the employer intends to continue to operate, the focus remains, as for the last 10 months, on homeworking.
A lot has changed since 31 October 2020 when the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS, or furlough scheme) was due to come to an end and the Job Support Scheme (JSS) was due to begin (in both “open” and “closed” formats).
