SPC requires all staff to be fully vaccinated by December
Australian food manufacturer SPC has announced that it is mandating that all of its staff must be fully vaccinated by the end of November to gain entry to any of the company’s locations.
The new mandate is being introduced to ensure the health and wellbeing of all staff and the broader community. It requires all SPC staff, including casual and permanent staff as well as contractors, to at least have the first dose of the vaccine scheduled by 15 September 2021, with the first dose administered by the end of October. Any visitors to an SPC site will also be required to be vaccinated.
“Lockdowns are not a sustainable solution and the Australian economy needs to open up again. The Delta variant poses a significant threat to our people, our customers and the communities we serve. The only path forward for our country is through vaccination,” said SPC Chairman Hussein Rifai.
“As a company, we believe it is the right thing to do and we must go further to minimise risk and to protect the people we care about from the Delta variant.”
Employees will be offered compensation via paid time off when required to receive their vaccinations as well as special paid leave of up to two days for any staff who may become unwell after vaccination. The company will also make case-by-case considerations for those unable to receive the vaccine for some reason.
SPC CEO Robert Giles said: “We have already implemented rigorous safety plans at all our sites in response to the pandemic. These plans have ensured our people’s health, safety and job security while ensuring business continuity for the essential service we provide to the broader community. But Australian companies must go further by rapidly vaccinating their staff.
“By taking proactive steps now, we are shoring up our company for the future. We firmly believe that it will be manufacturers and innovators like SPC who will help drive Australia’s post-COVID economic recovery,” Giles concluded.
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