The positions for and against the vaccine for Covid19 have been animating the public debate for months now. We know that many perplexities in fact have no scientific basis, yet fear sometimes overpowers rationality. And this phenomenon sometimes has consequences also in the professional sphere. In the state of Vatican CITY these can be severe: although there are also vaccinated voluntarily, employees who do not undergo immunization can face various measures ranging from demotion to dismissal.
Put simply, either you get vaccinated or I fire you.
In Italy – which has a different legal system and laws – is a similar scenario possible? We asked Giovanni Gaudio, lawyer expert in labor law and research fellow at the Ca ‘Foscari University of Venice.
Gaudio explains first of all that “the Constitution establishes that no one can be obliged to medical treatment when it is not provided for by the law”. And at the moment there is in fact no such law regarding the Covid19 vaccine. “However, many are asking that the legislator intervene to impose a vaccination obligation, especially for certain categories of workers such as doctors, health personnel and nursing homes”.
It therefore follows that in general a proprietor cannot ‘oblige workers to be vaccinated. Also because, as recently underlined by the Privacy Guarantor, the employer could not even ask his employees for confirmation of the vaccination, since these data can only be processed by the company doctor ».
This is the reference scenario, but different conclusions could be reached for certain professional categories. If an employee working in a sensitive area refuses to get vaccinated and then contracts – and presumably spreads – the virus, the situation could get complicated. In this circumstance, it could also lead to dismissal but “only if the company doctor believes that the lack of vaccination results in a high risk for others, which cannot be managed through less invasive measures such as the obligation to wear a mask or physical distancing. And this could concern, at the moment, only limited categories of workers, such as doctors, health personnel and nursing homes, or those who have continuous contact with the public ”.
In these cases, could the resource be fired immediately? No, because the employer “should first consider alternative measures, such as the assignment to tasks that do not involve contact with the public, where available”.
It should also be remembered that “the refusal to vaccinate does not even seem to constitute a further condition to which insurance protection is subject Inail. Therefore, the contagion in the workplace of the no-vax employee must be considered an accident at work and will consequently be eligible for compensation ».
In conclusion, therefore, at present and in the absence of a specific law, “the freedom of choice of the individual not to undergo the vaccine seems to prevail” concludes Gaudio.
(Photo: unsplash.com).
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