Can my employer ban me from the office?

[Anothercovidthread]

NC.
I have recently started a new job. It is a non customer facing office job, based in Scotland. The company is very large. I have been working from home since I began the job due to covid restrictions. Today, we were told that we will return to the office towards the end of the month and going forwards we will do 3 days in, and 2 days from home. However, to enter the office, you must show proof of having had 2 covid vaccines. My employer will not store details of who has been vaccinated, you just need to show the info to enter. If you have not had the vaccine you are not allowed in the office unless special circumstances and permissions are agreed directly with HR.

I'm still in probation so very concerned about kicking up a fuss but I think this is very wrong.

1. Why should I have to share medical information with reception staff on a daily basis for the foreseeable?
2. Can the company legally ban people from the office for not having a non mandatory vaccine?
3. Assuming that if you have some kind of non vax agreement with HR, you are provided with some other documentation allowing entry to the office, is the company allowed to insist that its shown on a daily basis to whoever is on reception?

AIBU, the employer is just taking steps to keep people safe?

They're asking to show you've been vaccinated - not doing a James Herriot & sticking their arm up your foof in public.

I guess those who are having job contracts terminated might disagree

Tough really, the reality is they still have choice so it’s not forced. No one gets them in a head lock and forces them to be vaccinated, if they wish to stay in that employment they get vaccinated if they don’t wish to get vaccinated they have to leave and find alternate employment where the employer doesn’t care. They can all be unvaccinated together.

I suspect the op is unvaccinated and that’s the issue, as the title is can they ban be from the office. So suspect she’s worried she needs to make it known she’s not, and she will be banned from the office.

@Anothercovidthread - you appear to have a very offensive opinion of the professionalism of the company employees working on the reception desk. They are not random strangers, a large part of their role is to ensure they have enough data about anyone entering the building to ensure that the person in front of them is permitted by their employer to enter, and they could be sacked for a data breach, so your vaccine or vaccine exemption info will go no further (except that everyone around you will assume you have been vaccinated if you are in the building, of course). A reasonable request doesn’t have to be specifically stated in your written contract. If you want to start a court case on whether or not it is reasonable, fill your boots.

@MaxNormal

I'm quite shocked at the majority of the replied, although it is AIBU so I suppose people will mostly want to be contrary and stick the boot in. Possibly a lot of Australians posting where this stuff is normalised now?

What on earth are you on about? Do you really want to get into comparisons between England and Australia re: Covid? What is normal in Australia now is life generally, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know. Travel between states, cinemas, restaurants, theatres, holidays, gyms, weddings ... all of that. Our vaccination program is going very well - thanks.

Just find another job if you disagree with the conditions, at the end of the day, you are still in probation so they won’t be happy to change the company policy put in place to protect their employees and earnings just to accommodate your stance.

@lljkk yes, this is exactly my issue. I feel so anxious about the whole thing.

It isn't about having the vaccine, I have to carry the data on my phone or on paper, in my bag and show it to lots of people. The thought of this is terrifying me. This is data that to me is very private.

I have never been to the countries you need to show a yellow fever jab for. I don't go to big football games or places where this is now the norm. To me this is a huge change to my life and what I have considered normal, I feel scared.

It isn't about having the vaccine, I have to carry the data on my phone or on paper, in my bag and show it to lots of people. The thought of this is terrifying me. This is data that to me is very private.

So very weird...

Its hardly medical information, its 2 dates and what jab you had.

People are losing their jobs for not being vaccinated, so showing a pass to enter an office doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

What is so private of a record that you have been vaccinated?

What a fuss about nothing. You said you were in Scotland,in Scotland we now have an app to show our Covid status. Not sure what your problem is. Download the app and show your status.

Some people who are declining the vaccine appear to want to be victims of pro-vaccine policies.

I’ll fight for my rights about many issues but vaccination during a global pandemic is common sense and evidence based.

Thank God most people are having the vaccine so we all stand a chance of getting back to a normal life. If most people were refusing the vaccine we’d probably be in another lockdown by now with more businesses failing, more people suffering and a gloomy outlook for the new year.

Personally I don’t want to be in an office of unvaccinated people and would be happy for my employer to introduce a policy that protects employees’ health.

OP I presume you have no intention of ever visiting Europe? Because in several countries if you can't or won’t show your vaccination pass, you will not be getting in to any restaurants or indoor events. I’ve been to both France and Italy recently and it’s a totally normal thing to have your QR code scanned.

If you’re that terrified of carrying ‘data on your phone’ etc I’d suggest you have larger issues. Presumably you don’t drive? As otherwise you’d need a driving license kept with you.

It isn't about having the vaccine, I have to carry the data on my phone or on paper, in my bag and show it to lots of people. The thought of this is terrifying me. This is data that to me is very private.

The thing is OP, nothing is really private is it?
If you have a bank account, are registered with a GP, are on a pay roll, have a phone contract, social media account, pay bills, buy online etc. (the list is endless) data is being stored about you constantly.

My bank knows more about me than I know about myself I swear! 😁

What is scary about carrying a piece of paper/card/screenshot with your vaccination status? How is it private information it’s not like it’s your entire medical history? How is it any different to carrying your debit card/driving license/phone around with you? Genuinely I do not understand what is terrifying about it??

@Anothercovidthread - if you’ve ever been overseas, you’ll have needed your passport with you. How the hell did you ever cope with that - the information in there is enough to steal your identity, unlike a vaccine status confirmation. And do you drive? How do you cope with the fear of possessing a driving licence? Or opening a bank account - they ask for a shitload of intrusive information. Then there is the information you have to give schools about your children. Just possessing a smartphone and using the internet means you are actually extremely willing to offer up all sorts of data about yourself. You are already revealing an awful lot more about yourself than a vaccine status report ever will.

@userg5647

Unless someone is recording the info when the pass is presented (or isn't), then it's not processing

I can't be arsed getting into a data protection debate on the weekend when I'm not getting paid, but under GDPR it can easily be interpreted as processing. Whilst they aren't storing the information, they are using it and there's an outcome for the data subject. The ICO decision has been widely condemned by the data protection community for this stance.

If you can't be arsed then no-one is forcing you to post.

You might want to interpret it as processing but it really isn't I'm afraid. It's not being collected (seeing it is not the same as collecting it fyi), recorded, stored, disseminated etc etc - which one of the data processing definitions do you feel seeing vaccine status comes under?

Just because you use someone's data for an outcome doesn't automatically make it data processing. By 'data protection' community do you mean those concerned with making/regulating data protection regulations or those involved with data protection, because there's loads of us in the second one and the debates seem just as divided as any covid debates at the moment.

A vaccine passport literally says
Your name and your date of birth, the rest of the information is all about the vaccine, and where the jab took place.

But if thats really such a problem for you, get the nhs app, its behind a fingerprint or key lock and the only person that can access it is you, ansd the only eyes that ser are the person you show.

@GreyhoundG1rl

It isn't about having the vaccine, I have to carry the data on my phone or on paper, in my bag and show it to lots of people. The thought of this is terrifying me. This is data that to me is very private. So very weird...

Weird indeed and rather not believable.

"Just get vaccinated then.."

Why should she?

I'm double jabbed, no anti vaxxer but why should people be forced into having something injected in their body by employers?

Vaccinated people can still have and transmit Covid. Its shocking that people are getting backed into a corner like this.

[quote Anothercovidthread]@lljkk yes, this is exactly my issue. I feel so anxious about the whole thing.

It isn't about having the vaccine, I have to carry the data on my phone or on paper, in my bag and show it to lots of people. The thought of this is terrifying me. This is data that to me is very private.

I have never been to the countries you need to show a yellow fever jab for. I don't go to big football games or places where this is now the norm. To me this is a huge change to my life and what I have considered normal, I feel scared.[/quote]
I do understand this but it’s a change in everyone’s life and no-one particularly likes it. Please consider talking it through with someone who can listen but also gently challenge you.

If you are prepared to live a limited life, not go to certain places, not work in certain places which may mean not fulfilling some of your life goals then continue as you are. But don’t blame the rest of the world for getting on without you and making rules that exclude you when you have effectively excluded yourself.

Please think carefully about this. It’s a global pandemic. We haven’t lived through this before. We all need to adapt and do things differently…or if you choose to stay as you are, understand that there will be consequences to this choice.

1. Why should I have to share medical information with reception staff on a daily basis for the foreseeable?

You don't.

Can my employer bar me from the office?

They aren't.

I don't have a driving license, I have a passport although, I couldn't tell you the last time I went abroad.

Perhaps if I went abroad more often it would be more normal to me.

I don't no why I'm so frightened. I wish I did. I don't no how to describe it, I don't like spiders either, I cant really say why, I just don't. It kind of feels like that. The thought of showing the info to someone makes me feel very anxious and even now, I could cry. I don't no how to feel the way that most of you do and to think this is all OK. Believe me, I wish I did. I am sitting here now thinking about it and I feel my heart racing. To me it is just very private. I don't no how else to explain.

@Anothercovidthread can you just work from home full time if you don’t want to share your vaccine information?

They’re asking you to show it daily so that the aren’t storing the information. Storing it (by referring to it in their systems / your pass) is processing, and a whole heap of GDPR pain. They’re absolutely entitled to do this and are implementing it in a way that means you aren’t supplying them with any personal data they do t want to hold.

Your options are to comply or find a job where they don’t currently have this policy, but in the knowledge that it’s quite widespread and any other employer may introduce it at any stage. Your employer has a duty of care to keep its staff safe and they are balancing that with not discriminating against any class of employee. If you can’t have the jab for medical reasons (haven’t read all 12 pages), ask for exemption to show lateral flow test result from the same morning (nb you will be paying for those shortly)