“We value our people, and we’ll work with them as best we can. They’ll make choices, and we’ll need to make choices, and those will be hard ones, I suspect,” he said. “We hope that people do the research, get the confidence, get the jab – that’s our message.”
Bunnings has 14 vaccination sites across the country and has vaccinated more than 66,000 people through its sites so far.
News Corp has told staff they will need to be vaccinated to enter company buildings from next year.Credit:Rhett Wyman
”What we’ve been very clear with all governments across Australia, New Zealand and health departments is if there’s a way we can help, we are absolutely there to help,” Mr Schneider said.
Meanwhile, a number of other companies are embarking on their own mandatory vaccination programs. In an email to staff, seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, News Corp chief executive Michael Miller noted that any employee in NSW or Victoria who was unable to work remotely would be required to get vaccinated due to state health directions.
However, by next year, that requirement will also include any employee looking to enter a News Corp building. Staff who are unvaccinated due to medical reasons or other “reasonable exemptions” will be required to complete regular COVID tests.
Mining giant BHP also announced on Thursday it would require employees to be fully vaccinated by no later than January 31 to access all sites and offices.
“The science is clear that widespread vaccination saves lives,” BHP’s head of Australian mining Edgar Basto said. “In line with government guidance, we recognise the path forward is through widespread vaccination in Australia, and we are looking at a range of practical ways to support that while protecting communities and workforces.”
In NSW, some of the most prominent white-collar employers such as law firm Allens, Telstra and Deloitte said staff who returned to the office when they reopened again would need to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Companies that are hoping to get staff back into the office are optimistic that the NSW government’s decision on Thursday to drop mask requirements in offices when the state reaches an 80 per cent double dose vaccination rate will boost attendance but the move has not formally changed plans.
“It will make it more pleasant not to have to wear a mask and will be one less barrier to getting our people back into the office – that has to be a positive thing,” a spokeswoman for law firm Gilbert and Tobin said.
A spokeswoman for Allens said: “Our experience across our offices has been that numbers in the office tend to be lower when there is a mask requirement.”
There have been a number of protests in Victoria over vaccine mandates, most notably from the construction and trades industry which were told by the state government in mid-September that they must be vaccinated to continue working on site.
Mr Schneider said while he acknowledged Victorians were fatigued and tired, he said it was “crystal clear” that vaccinations were the path out of lockdowns. “It doesn’t do anyone any favours going out and then protesting in the way that people are protesting,” he said.
with Nick Toscano, Zoe Samios and Nick Bonyhady
