According to the results of a survey conducted by HR service provider, Visma | Raet, 36 percent of employees in the Netherlands believe that companies should deny unvaccinated colleagues access to the workplace. 

Dutch companies to ban workers not vaccinated against COVID-19

As part of the survey, Visma | Raet asked 1.121 people working in the Netherlands on their thoughts as to what companies should do about vaccinations in the workplace when employees are no longer required or expected to work from home. 

Over a third of respondents would want to see unvaccinated workers banned from the workplace, while 29 percent said they wouldn’t feel comfortable going into work if any of their unvaccinated colleagues would also be present. 24 percent also said that, should their unvaccinated colleague be forced to take leave after contracting coronavirus, their salary should be docked.

Should companies offer a financial incentive?

The Dutch government has already said that the coronavirus vaccine will not be mandatory. Experts have also said it isn’t legally possible for an employer to enforce a mandatory vaccination policy - all they can do is kindly ask their colleagues to be vaccinated. 

However, some employers are taking it a little further and are DeltaSafe Security are offering a one-off bonus of 100 euros for any employee who receives the coronavirus vaccine. The scheme could cost the company up to 16.000 euros, but director Michel Staat hopes it could not only benefit the health of his colleagues but also the stability and future of the company: “If we have fewer absences, we are more employable. The sooner we are all vaccinated, the faster the virus will eventually disappear from the Netherlands.”

24 percent of those who took part in the Visma | Raet survey felt that an employer should be able to make immunisation mandatory, but 69 percent felt this would go too far, noting that they are in charge of their own bodies and that vaccination should be a choice.