Living with the Traffic Lights

Covid-19 protection framework - living with the traffic light system

After several months of rapidly evolving changes, New Zealand has now settled into the COVID-19 Protection Framework, colloquially known as the ‘traffic light’ system. Vaccination is at the heart of this system, and the collective effort to get New Zealand vaccinated has exceeded the Government's expectations.

In addition to the Government mandating vaccination for approximately 40 per cent of New Zealand workers (including for roles in MIQ, the border, education, healthcare, corrections, fire/emergency and the police) many businesses are also either opting to limit entry to their premises to those with a My Vaccine Pass and/or requiring staff be vaccinated as a condition of performing their role.  

Government vaccination assessment tool  

On 15 December 2021, the Government formally released an optional vaccination assessment tool to help employers determine whether their workers need to be vaccinated. The tool is designed to give businesses assurance and confidence in their vaccination policies.

Set out below is a brief description of the tool’s four factors.

	Factor – Answering ‘yes’ to three out of four factors indicates it would be reasonable to require a worker be vaccinated for the role. The factors should be applied to roles, not to the personal circumstances of individual workers.		Lower risk	Higher risk
	Environment: Is the role in an indoor space that is less than 100m2? Working outside is a lower risk This assessment must consider all parts of a worker’s day (meeting rooms, lifts, bathrooms etc)		No	Yes
	Physical distancing: Is it unreasonable for the worker to maintain 1 metre physical distancing from other people?		No	Yes
	Time: Is the worker in close proximity to any other person for more than 15 minutes (continuous not cumulative)?		No	Yes
	Vulnerability: Does the worker provide services to people who are vulnerable to COVID-19? Those too young to be vaccinated, have an exemption or are at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 are deemed vulnerable This is met if a business has in-person interactions with members of the public		No	Yes

 

Use of the vaccination assessment tool is optional. While employers have sole discretion to use the tool or their own assessment criteria, doing so will likely assist in demonstrating the outcome reached is reasonable and justifiable. 

Vaccination policies made prior to or without this tool continue to be valid provided they have been properly implemented following a health and safety risk assessment.

Applying your vaccination policy 

Consultation with workers (and union(s) if applicable) is a critical requirement of introducing any mandatory vaccination policy. Employment law obligations continue to apply, and if a worker does not want or is unable to be vaccinated, an employer must act in good faith and consult with them before making any decisions that could impact on their employment.  This may include giving consideration to working remotely, enhanced use of PPE, redeployment and alternative arrangements. 

Employers may elect to exempt any workers from a vaccination requirement if they determine they can still appropriately manage the health and safety of workers and others with other control measures, such as the use of regular testing and/or PPE. If these options are not viable, an employer must provide no less than four weeks' notice of termination to any employee that is not vaccinated.  

Note that for employers that elect to require a valid My Vaccine Pass for entry to its premises, these will be issued to any employee that has been provided with a medical exemption by the Ministry of Health.  The Ministry has indicated that very few people will qualify for a medical exemption (less than 400 throughout New Zealand).

Next steps

Now that the Government's approach to COVID-19 appears to be settled for at least the next few weeks, if you have not already done so, we recommend you ensure you have clearly determined which path you wish to take to address COVID-19 in your workplace and developed a suitable policy accordingly.  This is particularly important given the expectation that most employees will return to their usual workplaces once their region reaches the 'orange' traffic light setting, which for the majority of New Zealand (except Northland) will be on the 30th of December 2021.

Our team are happy to assist in developing a fit for purpose policy to suit your business, and to   answer any questions you may have.