11.2021 Life Guide
Should job seekers provide vaccine yellow card? Employers fear of breaking the law without justifiable reasons
Far eastern New Century Corporation / Tong Weizhen
In the past two years, under the threat of COVID-19, everyone is in danger. Masks and epidemic prevention products become necessities for life. Vaccines are regarded as a powerful tool to effectively prevent virus transmission. However, vaccination is not a mandatory policy after all. If employers require job seekers to provide vaccination certificates, does it violate the law?
In the post epidemic era, vaccination rate has become an important indicator for enterprises to control risks, but vaccination must respect the independent wishes of individuals. If enterprises are motivated by managing workspace and protecting on-the-job employees, can they ask job seekers to provide vaccination certificates during the interview?
On this issue, the Ministry of labor said in September this year that according to the employment service law, when recruiting or hiring employees, enterprises shall not violate the wishes of job seekers or employees, retain their national identity cards, work vouchers or other supporting documents, or require private information not required for employment. What information can be classified as private information? It is clearly defined in the detailed rules for the implementation of the same law, and the vaccination certificate undoubtedly belongs to one of them.
Although vaccination certificates are private information, do they also belong to "employment needs"? This must be determined according to the work attributes and field conditions of public institutions. Even if there are high risks in the work content and workplace, when employers require job seekers to provide vaccination certificates, they should still respect the rights and interests of the parties, not exceed the specific purpose based on economic needs or safeguarding public interests, and have a legitimate and reasonable connection with the purpose.
For example, if organizations such as long term care centers and childcare centers require job seekers to provide vaccination certificates, it seems to have a legitimate and reasonable connection for the sake of epidemic prevention; However, the regulations themselves do not specify the nature and occasion of work. Whether enterprises violate the employment service law or not still depends on individual cases. If the enterprise is unable to provide the necessary reasons, it is likely to violate the employment service law and be fined 60000 yuan to 300000 yuan.
In the post epidemic era, vaccination rate has become an important indicator for enterprises to control risks, but vaccination must respect the independent wishes of individuals. If enterprises are motivated by managing workspace and protecting on-the-job employees, can they ask job seekers to provide vaccination certificates during the interview?
On this issue, the Ministry of labor said in September this year that according to the employment service law, when recruiting or hiring employees, enterprises shall not violate the wishes of job seekers or employees, retain their national identity cards, work vouchers or other supporting documents, or require private information not required for employment. What information can be classified as private information? It is clearly defined in the detailed rules for the implementation of the same law, and the vaccination certificate undoubtedly belongs to one of them.
Although vaccination certificates are private information, do they also belong to "employment needs"? This must be determined according to the work attributes and field conditions of public institutions. Even if there are high risks in the work content and workplace, when employers require job seekers to provide vaccination certificates, they should still respect the rights and interests of the parties, not exceed the specific purpose based on economic needs or safeguarding public interests, and have a legitimate and reasonable connection with the purpose.
For example, if organizations such as long term care centers and childcare centers require job seekers to provide vaccination certificates, it seems to have a legitimate and reasonable connection for the sake of epidemic prevention; However, the regulations themselves do not specify the nature and occasion of work. Whether enterprises violate the employment service law or not still depends on individual cases. If the enterprise is unable to provide the necessary reasons, it is likely to violate the employment service law and be fined 60000 yuan to 300000 yuan.
