Anti-Brexit businessman Charlie Mullins has vowed to introduce a “no vaccine, no job” policy, barring those who refuse vaccination for the Chinese coronavirus from his employment.
The multimillionaire founder of Pimlico Plumbers said that he is allocating up to £1 million to innoculate his workforce once the vaccinations are available for private purchase.
“No vaccine, no job… When we go off to Africa and Caribbean countries, we have to have a jab for malaria — we don’t think about it, we just do it. So why would we accept something within our country that’s going to kill us when we can have a vaccine to stop it?” Mr Mullins told City A.M. on Wednesday.
He added that his company was going to make it “standard” in all the contracts that “you’re required to have a vaccine”. If an applicant cannot provide proof of vaccination, then they would not even be offered an interview.
“We won’t be employing people in the future unless they’ve got a vaccine,” Mullins bluntly told the financial newspaper.
Mullins had helped bankroll the successful 2016 High Court legal challenge which stopped then-Prime Minister Theresa May from triggering Article 50 — the legal mechanism for leaving the European Union — without a vote in the Remainer-dominated Parliament.
Employment lawyer Jonathan Chamberlain said that business owners should not force staff to take the COVID-19 vaccine and if they attempt to do so they could face a lawsuit, which they are likely to lose.
“Employees can refuse and, if they get fired as a result, they’re likely to have strong claims against their employer, potentially some very expensive ones. As the law currently stands, not even the Government can insist the general public get vaccinated so the courts are unlikely to have much sympathy with a private employer who tries to force their staff to have the jab,” Mr Chamberlain said, according to The Guardian.
The head of a small businesses association in Australia made similar threats in August. Council of Small Business Organisations Australia CEO Peter Strong had told 7NEWS: “If one of my staff members says, ‘no, I’m against it’, then I’m going to have to say I’m sorry, you are a threat to my business.”
“It’s not discrimination, that’s a business decision,” Mr Strong claimed.
The United Kingdom’s Vaccine Minister, Nadim Zahawi, said last month that while it would never mandate forced vaccinations, private businesses may demand “immunity passports” before offering services, including sports stadiums, cinemas, or restaurants.