Vaccination may be mandatory for some

Tasman District Council has started consulting with staff over a proposal to require some employees in customer-facing roles to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Council chief executive Janine Dowding said the public consultation had started on Wednesday and it was open for two weeks.

‘‘We are consulting with staff regarding a proposal that would see our staff in library and service centres with customer-facing roles requiring to be vaccinated,’’ Dowding said.

‘‘We have followed WorkSafe guidelines [to] identify roles that may require mandatory vaccination.’’

The proposal was based on the council’s obligations as an employer under the Health and Safety at Work Act, ‘‘where we have a legal responsibility to minimise risk to our employees’’.

The news comes as Tasman District, along with the rest of the South Island and part of the North Island, moved into the orange light setting under the Government’s new Covid19 Protection Framework yesterday.

Under that orange setting, a My Vaccine Pass will be needed to enter some council facilities, such as Richmond Aquatic Centre. However, no pass will be required to visit the council customer service offices and libraries at Richmond, Motueka, Tākaka, and Murchison.

Meanwhile, as the council chamber in the Richmond office is a public venue subject to distancing requirements, members of the public and many members of staff would need to continue attending council meetings remotely, via Zoom.

‘‘With the [Government’s] epidemic notice still in place until at least 8 December, we will continue to operate under current arrangements,’’ Dowding said.

‘‘Until the notice is either renewed or any other decisions are made the current requirements will continue.’’

The notice enabled councillors to continue to have voting rights without attending a meeting in person, she said.

‘‘We have followed WorkSafe guidelines [to] identify roles that may require mandatory vaccination.’’

Janine Dowding

Tasman District Council chief executive