From 15 August 2023, there is no longer a legal requirement to isolate when someone tests positive with COVID-19. This page is currently under review. Read COVID-19 and the workplace for more information.
Note: The pages in this section use the terms 'businesses', 'workers', 'employees' and 'employers'. This is because vaccination issues at work involve health and safety law, privacy and employment law. Health and safety law applies to PCBUs (Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking, referred to as 'businesses' below) and workers (including employees and independent contractors). Employment law applies to employees and employers.
Work requiring COVID-19 vaccination
Government vaccination requirements for work
There are no government vaccine mandates at present. Some employers may still require workers to be vaccinated due to their responsibilities under health and safety legislation.
Employer vaccination requirements for work
A business or workplace may consider a vaccination requirement is appropriate based on a work health and safety risk assessment under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Employers can complete a work health and safety risk assessment. This will allow them to determine what COVID-19 controls are appropriate, which could include implementing an employer vaccination requirement if this can be justified. Consultation requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act apply to conversations with all workers. This includes conversations on vaccination requirements.
Risk assessments should take account of current public health advice and settings in deciding whether vaccination requirements are appropriate. Risk assessments should be redone or reviewed when there is a significant change. Worker consultation requirements also apply when repeating or reviewing a risk assessment.
Guidance on undertaking a work health and safety assessment is available from WorkSafe New Zealand, including public health advice:
After carrying out a work health and safety assessment, an employer could conclude that:
- Rather than requiring vaccination, alternative controls are more appropriate to perform specified work. In this case the employer should implement the alternative controls. If a vaccination requirement was in place, it should be rescinded.
- On the other hand, an employer could conclude there is a basis for requiring vaccination. In this case, the employer could implement an employer vaccination requirement, alongside any other controls that are appropriate to reduce the risk and transmission.
Managing risks in the workplace – WorkSafe (external link)
Employers must engage with employees in good faith. This includes when reviewing a work health and safety risk assessment. If there are any changes as a result of the assessment, employers must be clear what their transition process will be.
Usual employment law and processes continue to apply to any employment processes arising from a risk assessment. Employers should take care to follow a fair and reasonable process before making any decisions and work in good faith with employees and unions before deciding on any employment outcomes.
Employees will be able to bring a personal grievance if they feel they have been unjustifiably dismissed or disadvantaged as a result of a decision their employer has made about vaccination.
Other reasons for requiring vaccination of workers
There may be situations where a third party imposes a condition on an employer, for example only allowing vaccinated workers onto its premises. This may arise where an employer’s workers provide services to a third party, for example onsite security or catering services.
As long as these vaccination conditions are not unlawful, or in breach of any agreements between the parties, the employer will need to ensure its workers are vaccinated to keep doing business with the third party.
Where this situation applies, we recommend that employers engage with the third party to ensure that in imposing this requirement they are meeting their work health and safety duties to so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, co-operate with, and co-ordinate activities.
This means that an employer may need to consider which of its workers engage with the third party based on their vaccination status. An employer may also rearrange their business to ensure that only its vaccinated workers engage with the third party.
Supporting employees to get vaccinated
High rates of vaccination remain critical to preventing severe disease and death, especially in vulnerable people. In addition, it affords some individual protection against infection and transmission of the virus and broad population protection with high vaccination uptake.
Having COVID-19 does not provide the same level of immunity as getting vaccinated. Staying up to date with boosters keeps immunity high.
Communicate early and openly and in good faith
Employers, employees and their representatives should communicate early and openly about vaccination.
The duty of good faith in employment relationships apply to employees. Consultation requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act also apply to conversations with all workers, not just employees.
Employer and employee must do’s
Talking to employees about the COVID-19 vaccination
If there are any practical barriers to accessing vaccination, employers should help address these. Some employees may have individual health concerns or other reasons for needing support.
How to get a vaccination – Unite against COVID-19 (external link)
The Unite Against COVID-19 website has a toolkit with information and resources to help workplaces support COVID-19 vaccinations.
Employees may have questions about the vaccine. Employers can help them by directing them to official sources for accurate information.
- Vaccine information – Unite against COVID-19 (external link)
- Ministry of Health (external link)
- Karawhiua – information for whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities (external link)
Before any vaccine is approved for use in New Zealand, it must meet international standards and local requirements for quality, safety and efficacy.
This means employers do not need to debate or provide detailed answers to questions about the vaccination, its safety, and/or its effectiveness as a control against infection/transmission/severe illness.
Where detailed medical questions are raised, an employer can rely upon expert public health advice for those matters and can point employees who are concerned to that information.
Employers should consider providing an employee with access to someone who can deliver this advice in a way that is readily understood, if that was reasonable and practicable in the circumstances. This could include a medical practitioner.
Don’t share vaccine disinformation in the workplace
Sharing vaccine disinformation could, in some circumstances and in some workplaces, potentially amount to misconduct in the workplace. Employers should seek legal advice before taking any action for such conduct.
Vaccine safety and approval – Unite against COVID-19 (external link)
Requirement to provide paid time off to get vaccinated
Employees are entitled to reasonable paid time away from work during their normal working hours to receive a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including a vaccine booster, as long as providing the time off does not unreasonably disrupt:
- their employer’s business; or
- the employee’s performance of their employment duties.
Before attending a vaccination appointment during work hours, an employee must let their employer know:
- the date and time they intend to receive a vaccination, and
- the amount of time that they expect to take as paid time off in order to receive that dose, including travel time.
If the proposed date or time would be unreasonably disruptive, the employer and employee should seek to agree on a different date or time.
In agreeing on what time off is reasonable, employers and employees should consider things like:
- the location of the nearest vaccination centre
- the availability of appointment times
- transport options and travel time, and
- the 15-minute monitoring time after a person has received a vaccination.
Employers may opt to develop a workplace policy that indicates when they will consider it reasonable to take time off to be vaccinated, so that they do not need to consider employees’ notifications on a case-by-case basis.
Employers do not need to record this leave in their payroll system, but it’s a good idea to record that the employee took this leave in case there is a dispute.
An employer must pay their employee for the time in question at the rate of pay that the employee would otherwise have received if the employee was performing their ordinary employment duties during that time. If an employee arranges vaccination outside of their ordinary working hours, they are not entitled to paid time off.
Paid time off to receive a COVID-19 vaccination is a separate entitlement to what employees get under the Holidays Act 2003. That is, employers cannot ask employees to use annual or sick leave to get vaccinated. If an employee suffers side effects because of the vaccination, any time they take off to recover can be taken as sick leave.
Employees are not entitled to paid time off to take their child or children for their COVID-19 vaccination. If there is a particular reason an employee needs to take their child or children to be vaccinated during work hours, employees are encouraged to discuss this with their employer. Employers must be open and communicative and respond to workers in good faith where issues are raised by workers, including matters relating to vaccination.
Asking employees for vaccination information
Employers can collect information about their employees’ vaccination status for a lawful purpose
Employers may ask employees whether they have been vaccinated and to provide proof of vaccination so long as they consider there is a lawful purpose to collect this information. This could be where work can only be done by a vaccinated worker for health and safety reasons, or to meet a vaccination requirement imposed by a third party.
Employees do not have to disclose their personal vaccination status. If they choose not to disclose their vaccination status, employers may assume they are unvaccinated, but must inform workers that they will make this assumption, and what it may mean for their employment, in advance.
Employees cannot be redeployed or disadvantaged for refusing to disclose their vaccination status, unless the work they are doing cannot be done by unvaccinated employees.
Making vaccination a condition of new employment
An employer who wishes to may make vaccination a condition of employment for a new employee or an existing employee moving to a new role may do so. This should be a genuine requirement for a role and the employer should clear what the basis for the condition is (for example, where such a condition is based on a work health and safety risk assessment or reflects third party requirements). Employers should also consider whether there are alternatives to requiring vaccination as a condition of employment.
Such a condition must not breach any legal requirements, including the Human Rights Act.
Where an employer is considering introducing this requirement, we strongly recommend they get specialist advice first.
Collecting, storing and sharing information about an employee’s vaccination status
Information will need to be collected and handled according to the Privacy Act.
Businesses must take reasonable steps to make sure information about an employee’s vaccination status is collected, used and stored lawfully.
The obligations under the Privacy Act include making sure:
- that workers are aware of how this information will be used
- any intended recipients of the information
- that workers know why it is being collected
- that it is stored securely
- that reasonable steps are taken to ensure the information is accurate and up to date before it is used.
Retention of Personal Information – Office of the Privacy Commissioner (external link)
Employment actions if an employee is unvaccinated and there is a requirement that they are
Employers should take care to be fair and reasonable in their engagement with employees regarding vaccination, and work through processes with employees in good faith before deciding on any outcome.
Employers cannot require any individual person to be vaccinated. Being unvaccinated however may have implications for an employee’s job.
If certain work can only be done by vaccinated workers under an employer vaccination requirement, employers should set a reasonable timeframe for employees to decide if they will be vaccinated.
Special paid leave should be considered, especially in the short term, when employers and employees are discussing whether an employee will be vaccinated and what will happen if the employee is not vaccinated.
Changing work arrangements or duties
Employers must consider whether there are any other reasonable alternatives that would allow the employee to keep working while unvaccinated. Employees and employers may be able to agree on changes to work arrangements (e.g. location or hours of work) or duties (e.g. job content), which could mean that vaccination is no longer required. This outcome should be mutually agreed and independent advice may be needed if this is not possible.
Employers should also consider whether the tasks that require vaccination can be deferred. For example, if an employee has a particular reason for not being vaccinated (e.g. certain medical conditions, or existing medication regimes). This might mean alternative arrangements can be agreed for the short term, with vaccination planned for a later date.
Modifying employment agreements during COVID-19 response and recovery
Taking leave
Employers and employees can together agree on a form of paid leave, either special paid leave or annual leave. Special paid leave should be considered, especially in the short term, when employers and employees are discussing whether an employee will be vaccinated and what will happen if the employee is not vaccinated.
If an employer and employee cannot agree, the employer may direct the employee to take annual leave (if the employee has leave entitlements available) with at least 14 days’ notice.
An employer cannot make their employee take unpaid leave without their consent. If an employer has directed their employee to take unpaid leave, this could be seen as the employer unlawfully suspending the employee.
Restructuring work
Employers may also consider restructuring, including redundancies, for example if they need to meet vaccination requirements imposed by a third party. If so, employers should take care to comply with employment law, including acting in good faith and being consistent with any provisions in employment agreements.
Redundancy must be the last option, after all other reasonable alternatives (e.g. redeployment where possible or rearranging work) have been exhausted. An employer and employee may agree to a negotiated end of employment.
If an employee’s agreement is terminated because they are not vaccinated
If all other reasonable alternatives that would allow the employee to keep working have been exhausted, the Employment Relations Act requires employers to provide employees with at least four weeks’ paid written notice of termination.
It is highly unlikely to be a good faith action for an employer to direct that a worker use annual leave (if the employee has leave entitlements available), or any other entitlements that the employee has, during this paid written notice period.
This change will only apply to employees who do not have a notice period, or whose notice periods are shorter than four weeks. If an employee has a notice period longer than four weeks in their employment agreement, that longer notice period will continue to apply.
If employees get vaccinated or are otherwise permitted to perform work under a COVID-19 order, during this four week notice period, the termination notice is cancelled, unless this would unreasonably disrupt the employer’s business. For example, where a business has hired a replacement employee and there is no other work available in the business.
If an employee loses their job because they decide not to get the COVID-19 vaccination, there may also be support available from Work and Income.
Lost job because of COVID-19 vaccination requirement – Work and Income (external link)
Support to help resolve employment disputes
Normal employment law and processes continue to apply. Employers should take care to be fair and reasonable in their employment decisions and work in good faith with employees and unions before deciding on any employment outcomes.
Employees will be able to bring a personal grievance if they feel they have been unjustifiably dismissed or disadvantaged as a result of a decision their employer has made about vaccination.
Employers and employees can access support from MBIE’s Early Resolution Service or Employment Mediation Services to resolve employment problems.
Should mediation not resolve the dispute, the Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court can determine the issue.
Frequently asked questions
The following questions have been raised following the removal of government vaccination mandates. The answers reflect updated health advice from the Ministry of Health.