From 11.59pm on Monday 4 April, vaccine passes will not longer be required. The Government will not require mandates in education, police or Defence Force workers and those workplaces using them.
Bay of Plenty employers fear they will be left in the "hot seat" when navigating new mandate rules in the workplace, a business leader says.
Vaccine passes will be removed and mandates narrowed to health and disability, aged care, corrections and border workforces on Monday.
Bay business leaders welcomedthe step towards more normality, but say employers will have to juggle health and safety with human rights.
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley. Photo / George Novak
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said lifting the mandates would have two major benefits.
Businesses could welcome back customers and recruit staff without excluding people due to mandates.
"It will be a relief for teams who have been short-staffed and overworked as replacements have been hard to find in our tight labour market."
Cowley said it was a challenging time as people were generally exhausted and losing patience with the impact of the virus, especially if juggling personal and professional pressures.
"Whenever there is conflict, employers must act in good faith with all parties and have proactive and empathetic communications.
"Hopefully, teams see the benefit of having more staff available to share the workload."
Employers will need to be creative, reorganise shifts, space out lunch breaks, and provide strategies for workers with genuine health concerns working close to unvaccinated staff, he said.
"It is completely understandable that some people could have legitimate concerns, particularly if they care for people who are immunocompromised.
"There may also be others who are taking an ideological or principled position. Employers need to understand each individual's situation and work through their concerns."
Nigel Tutt, chief executive of Western Bay of Plenty economic development agency Priority One, said with very low unemployment and talent shortages, employers, in general, would welcome anything that increased the availability of staff.
"While the lifting of mandates is a good step forward in our path back to normality, many businesses will still have staff working from home, if able, for a few weeks yet while we still have a significant number of Omicron infections in the community."
Rotorua Business Chamber chief executive Bryce Heard said lifting the vaccine mandates and passes was a significant and positive step in the "arduous and ongoing journey through the pandemic".
"Nobody foresaw how divisive the vaccine issue would become."
However, Heard said vaccinations were an individual decision that must be recognised and respected.
"As we move back to some form of normality, we must deal with the divisiveness that has developed around this issue.
"We must keep in mind that the present situation is not of our own making, but has been thrust upon us by circumstances outside of our control.
Rotorua Business Chamber chief executive Bryce Heard. Photo / Andrew Warner
"Many employers feel in danger of being left in the hot seat and some government guidelines are essential."
Heard said human rights and staff safety were at the heart of the issue, but were in conflict.
"It would seem like an abrogation of central government duty if employers were left to choose between losing their staff or facing human rights challenges.
"Mutual respect, understanding and tolerance will be needed on both sides of this debate as we move back to normality."
Sharp Tudhope Lawyers partner Shima Grice said she had heard of many instances of employees not wanting to work alongside unvaccinated colleagues.
"This was particularly a concern for employees who are immunocompromised, or who have immunocompromised family members, who were fearful of transmission from unvaccinated colleagues.
"What is not clear to me now is whether the fear of workplace transmission has continued to be an issue given the wide spread of Covid in the community."
Tackling any issues between vaccinated and unvaccinated workers should be part of the consultation process before removing any internal vaccination requirement to gauge whether employees still support mandatory vaccination in the workplace, she said.
Grice said employers could be contacted by employees asking for their jobs back.
"However, once an employee has been terminated, employers do not have to offer them their job back – especially if it has been filled."
It was important to remember that even though some government mandates have been lifted, it did not mean the requirement to be vaccinated has gone completely, she said.
"Government mandates have only been lifted in some sectors, and employers can still choose to impose a vaccination requirement provided they have reviewed their work health and safety risk assessment to take into account the current public health advice and any other changes in the workplace."
