MTN imposes mandatory Covid-19 vaccination, warns staff who refuse jab

The MTN Group will implement a mandatory vaccination policy for staff from January, it announced on Monday, warning staff who refuse to comply.

“The science is clear. Vaccination against Covid-19 reduces rates of serious infections, hospitalisation and death. As an employer, we have a responsibility to ensure that our workplaces are guided by the highest standards of health and safety and that has informed our decision to make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for our staff,” CEO Ralph Mupita said.

The new policy recognised some low-risk roles that will be accommodated with full-time work-from-home or alternate arrangements, but this will be a small percentage of its workforce.

MTN said the latest data shows that across the continent, only 7% of Africans have been fully vaccinated compared to a global population vaccination rate of 55%.

Its new vaccine policy “is a measure to meet MTN’s legal obligations in regard to providing a safe workplace and shall be subject to risk assessment and local laws that apply to the MTN Group and our operating companies and subsidiaries”.

The policy will recognise the right of employees to apply to be exempted and/or refuse vaccination on certain clearly defined grounds. However, staff not exempt from vaccinations either through risk assessment or agreed exclusions but still refuse vaccination, MTN “will not be obliged to continue the employment contract”.

TimesLIVE