Bosses in S'pore unlikely to mandate Covid-19 vaccination for staff: Experts

Although the vaccination programme here is voluntary, the company's chief executive Richard Yea is encouraging his more than 70 employees to get vaccinated.

"In this trade, we have to meet with home owners frequently. If our staff are vaccinated, home owners will feel more comfortable engaging and interacting with us," he said, adding that company trips overseas were previously reserved only for the top performers.

Medical experts, human resource practitioners and business associations The Straits Times approached said employers in Singapore are unlikely to enforce the Covid-19 vaccine on their workforce.

But many will strongly encourage their staff to get the shots.

For some companies, this means offering incentives. It can include giving staff time off as well as support for flexible work arrangement, said Mr Ang Yuit, vice-president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME).

However, he added: "Most companies will unlikely be too forceful in having their staff receive vaccination unless there are some specific operational reasons internally."

Singapore Business Federation chief executive Ho Meng Kit agreed, and said the management of the company can lead by example and be the first to take the shots.

The first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine arrived in Singapore on Dec 21, the first step in vaccinating the population.

The planned vaccination programme is voluntary and free for all Singaporeans and long-term residents here, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had made clear on Dec 14.

Medical experts said there is no need for employers to push their staff to get the shots.

"At the moment, case numbers in Singapore are very low so there isn't a pressing need to make vaccination compulsory," said Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases expert at the National University of Singapore's Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.

Dr Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases specialist from Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said the risk of infection is "extremely low in public".

"It will be unfair to force individuals to trade a low risk of infection with uncertainty about the long-term side effects of Covid-19 vaccines that are yet to be fully understood," he added.

However, he said employees should still vaccinate since the risk of doing so is low.

"Vaccination is putting up defences against the virus. It's not just the government's role, but everyone plays a part.

"It's only as strong as the participation from everyone... It allows us to be safe individually and for the country to have herd immunity, and for the country to open up economically," added Dr Leong.

Singapore entered phase three of its reopening on Monday (Dec 28), with plans to loosen some restrictions on workers returning to office.

Mr Calvin Lim, general manager of CDPL (Tuas) Dormitory, said the company will follow the Government's directive on vaccinations and will let staff make their own decisions.

"But given that our jobs should be defined as front-liners, we are likely to get the vaccination regardless," he said. The firm has around 30 staff.

PeopleWorldwide Consulting managing director David Leong said employees have the right to raise concerns about possible risks if they have colleagues who choose not to be vaccinated. But firms should not forbid those who do not receive the shots from entering the office.

"Technically, the risk of exposure is low when safe distancing practices are observed. It's no different from today's reality," he said.

Mr David Calkins, regional managing principal of Asia- Pacific and Middle East at global architecture firm Gensler, believes that the majority of the 54 staff in the Singapore office are open to getting vaccinated.

"We suspect that we won't have to provide much encouragement to those of us who are in client-facing roles and those who are hoping to be going on business travel in the future to take the vaccination," he said.

"But even as the vaccine becomes more widely available around the globe, we are anticipating to continue a flexible work mode for much of next year," he added.