Businesses need clear vaccination strategies that put their people first

HR surveys reveal a high level of confusion amongst employers around their employee’s COVID-19 vaccination status and how to protect the health and safety of workers.

A recent Gartner HR survey revealed that nearly half (48%) of large global organisations will not track the vaccination status of their employees, with less than one in ten (8%) requiring staff to show proof of vaccination. While a nationwide survey in Ireland this month showed that well over half (60%) of Irish employers want the right to ask their staff if they have received a COVID-19 vaccine.

Elsewhere, a report in The Times on Sunday 20th June, entitled “Who will win the great WFH tug of war?” noted that: “Some employers are asking staff to show they have been vaccinated, such as publisher Bloomsbury. Others are not.”

According to Mark Shaw, CEO of Tento Applied Sciences, digitisation is an inevitability in all aspects of our working lives that will impact these discussions and the decisions that companies and organisations will have to take to ensure that their workforce, clients, and environment are safe and there is freedom of movement.

A quick, secure, and individually controlled way for employers and employees to prove and validate their vaccination and test status at the tap of a screen, helps individuals and organisations implement a trusted and controlled strategy.  Most people want to know that all the people they are working or socialising with have been vaccinated or tested to ensure the lowest personal risk possible.

“One of the biggest challenges organisations face now, and in the future, is ensuring the safety of their staff and customers during the present pandemic and those to come,” stated Shaw. “Most organisations plan to reopen with social distancing and mask-wearing protocols in place, but it is clear to us that they will also need, as part of their overall strategy, a secure, confidential platform for managing the exchange of verified digital health documents between employers, staff, and customers.

“As an employer, making the right choices about your health and safety policies minimises business risk, guarantees a safer working environment, and also communicate your values as a responsible organisation. In addition, to help accelerate the return to work across many business sectors, including business travel, it is imperative that employers safely manage their employees’ workplace access.

“With Tento Link, we enable organisations to determine entry conditions, verify credentials for employees/customers, and provide access control through contactless scanning and verification of identity. And it easily integrates into the HRM system of an organisation.

“Platforms such as Tento Link enable organisations to confidentially coordinate the management of their people and visitors using their vaccination or testing certificates and other documents. Medical apps such as Tento Wallet empower people to take control of their health data in this partnership with their organisation and share it securely and anonymously with whomever they wish, such as employers, airlines, entertainment venues, and other establishments ensuring an environment of mutual trust and freedom.

“Giving individuals the freedom to access their vaccination and other health and personal documents and certificates in a simple, highly secure, digitised manner is the first step to clear and effective health and safety in the workplace. The second step is granting businesses access to the fully anonymised data that they need to safely manage their workforces to ensure a safe and efficient return to work and for all.”