The large accountancy and consultancy firm Deloitte has been asking employees for a corona QR code on a random basis for a week when they come to work. Experts say that’s not allowed. But Deloitte says it wants to offer employees a safe environment.
“It has been a difficult decision. It has been decided: you do not have to come to the office, but if you want to, you must be able to show the QR code,” says Liesbeth Mol, member of the Executive Board of Deloitte.
This is a question, emphasizes Deloitte. Employees don’t have to show the code if they don’t want to. There is no check at the door, and nothing is recorded. But: employees who do not want to show the code are asked to go home.
According to Deloitte, this does not put anyone in front of the block. According to their own words, specialists have assured the company that it is allowed. Mol: “Many of our people are fine with this. We talk to people who have doubts. So far there have been no protests.”
Dilemma
Many companies are now grappling with the same dilemma: do you ask staff whether they are vaccinated or not?
Companies have a duty of care and many employers are concerned about safety in the workplace due to the presence of unvaccinated employees. But for privacy reasons, they are not allowed to ask.
In America and in a few European countries require companies to provide a vaccination certificate. It remains relatively quiet in the Dutch workplace. Made at the end of August Leaseplan known to only want to see vaccinated employees again.
These three Deloitte employees do not mind that the company asks for their corona pass:
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‘Nice to know that I work in a safe environment’
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There is still a lot of uncertainty about whether or not you can ask an employee whether he has been vaccinated, says employment lawyer Maarten van Gelderen.
“That is due to faltering policy. At first it was not allowed, then according to the minister it was. But I believe that you should not be allowed to ask such a question on the basis of constitutional provisions.”
The FNV trade union is also clear: “This is about violating medical privacy,” says Vice-President Kitty Jong. “Workers’ fundamental rights are at stake.”
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Employees who do not want to show a vaccination certificate when asked for it can refuse to cooperate and if they can’t agree, go to court with their boss. The question is whether employees want to go against their boss.
It will be a matter of how a judge would judge, says Evert Verhulp, professor of employment law (UvA). “I am curious. The weighing of interests at an accountancy firm will be different from that at a hospital or a production line. On the one hand, the accountancy firm has the obligation to provide a safe workplace. On the other hand, the question is whether such an vaccination proof is really necessary to ensure this. You can also think of other measures. Keeping a distance is not a problem at such an office on the Zuidas, I think.”
‘Rights can be set aside’
That is also what FNV vice-chairman Jong says. “There are plenty of other ways to make sure the workplace is safe and healthy.”
Incidentally, it is not that difficult at all to lay down adjusted guidelines in the law, according to Verhulp. “By law you can article 11, about the right to the inviolability of the body, quite simply put aside. But then you have to get a majority for that of course.”
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