Vaccination requirements to work in a tech job office in Dublin

Hiring people here and if they're vaccinated or vasectomised doesn't matter a jot to me so long as they can do a good job .

If they said that travel to the US and head office were required would that get around any Irish regulations?

@Risteard81 wrote:

On what basis?

OP, to answer the question the short answer as to whether they can do this is "probably". You phrase it very specifically that, "To enter the Dublin office" requires vaccination.

If it is a remote job where working in the office is a possibility - but only for vaccinated people - then they absolutely can do this. If it's a case that it's a job on site and you must be vaccinated to get into the office, then it is a grey area.

Strictly speaking they may not be able to demand your vax status before giving you the job, but on your first day if you cannot get into the office because you cannot prove you're vaccinated, then they can just fire you and there's fvck all you can do about it.

As another person says above, they may also make travel to US an occasional condition of employment. As a result if you cannot go when they send you because you're unvaccinated, they can just fire you.

Functionally you can be let go for any reason in the first 12 months and there's nothing you can do about it.

Are you going to give it to someone else on the office?

It doesn't stop you catching it, but it makes it less likely and makes you less likely to pass it on. Hardly a silly requirement.

Functionally, the operator of any private premises can ask you to pull down your pants and show them your arse if they want. You can refuse, and just not enter the premises.

Obviously when access to those premises is required by individuals for work or any other kind of necessary business, entry requirements have to be somewhat limited to things that are necessary to preserve the business. So a gym can refuse entry unless you have proof of membership. Because otherwise anyone can wander in and the business goes bust.

Likewise, in the interests of protecting the health of staff (a statutory obligation), a business may be entitled to insist that all people entering the premises - staff and visitors - are vaccinated and can show proof of such.

It's a grey area, but there are plenty of reasons why it may be legal, and arguments for it being illegal are relatively flimsy.

Of course, companies are going to come a cropper on this. As soon as a very important customer or board member gets a special dispensation to enter the building despite being unvaccinated, the company is going to be sued to high heaven.

Yes: I'd expect the staff to have appropriate PPE.

Seems like a few of you are confusing checking vaccination status on existing employees versus using it for vetting new employees. You need the cert to use the inside of a pub, you need the cert to fly to destinations and its probably likely you will get asked for the cert on applying for some jobs.

Having to arrange childcare would also impede travel at the drop of a hat - and is another factor that employers cannot use to discriminate.

None of those circumstances apply for a tech job office though

As this man 👇️ says, there is a difference between asking existing employees for this information, and asking new employees.

Nevertheless, if an employer now wants to make their office "vaccinated only" while giving existing unvaccinated employees the option to work from home, they can likely do that too.

There is absolutely no way you have children

Wasn't that happening for months before vaccines were available?

They can ask and refuse your entry but they may be opening themselves to litigation, whether through employment law, discrimination law, or otherwise. You choosing not to enter the premises doesn't remove the legal obligations upon them

They may also insist but I believe the onus would be on them to prove that this is necessary for the running of the business, and I'm not sure they'd be able to do this seeing as business are following government guidelines in this regard and these guidelines do not mandate vaccination, and seeing as businesses have run successfully during the pandemic, before vaccination. It would presumably depend on the role also. I'm sure a company could finagle a role specification that necessitates vaccination though.

As healthcare professional, not only is it my job to worry about the care and safety of my patients but it’s also my legal requirement. I can be sacked, sued and struck off if I didn’t worry about them.