Opinion | No jab, no job? Asia’s employers should think beyond carrot and stick to encourage Covid-19 vaccine take-up
- Most companies aren’t planning to mandate vaccinations, though some are considering incentives like paid time off
- Whichever approach is taken, communication is key to provide guidance and support on vaccines for employees
The global race to vaccinate against Covid-19 is gathering steam – and along with it, the optimism of a return to business as usual. Companies are mulling over how best to get their workforce to roll up their sleeves. Should they make vaccinations compulsory? And if not, what can they do to encourage their employees to get a jab?
Mandating vaccines is the exception, not the rule, a recent Mercer survey of more than 1,300 companies found. Across the Asia-Pacific, only 6 per cent of employers who responded to the survey have decided to implement a mandate, with a further 14 per cent considering it. More said they were looking at incentives, from cash and gifts cards (4 per cent) to paid time off (35 per cent); while more than half remain undecided.
Amid a global vaccination roll-out fraught with supply chain hurdles and scepticism, many questions remain unanswered, including the big one that companies have been asking: what role should they play in the inoculation effort?
VACCINE INCENTIVES
Companies have likewise used incentives, both financial and otherwise, to drive better performance, employee engagement, and even improved health and well-being. But incentivising people to take vaccines would be uncharted territory.
