John MacDonald: The vax rules are going, so should the punishments

The only place the Government will require us to keep wearing masks is in places where health services are provided. Photo / Brett Phibbs

OPINION

The traffic light system is gone, most of the mask requirements are gone and the vaccine mandates will be gone by September 26 - although employers will still be able to decide whether or not they want to stick with the mandates.

The only place the Government will require us to keep wearing masks is in places where health services are provided - so hospitals, GP practices etc.

I'm not going to lie - it doesn't necessarily feel like a new day has dawned. These changes have been about two-and-a-half years in the making - ever since the pandemic started, pretty much.

And you may have heard the bloke from the Nurses Society on Newstalk ZB today saying that we probably won't see much change on the healthcare front because employers - health boards etc - were requiring staff to be vaccinated before the Government stepped in and mandated it.

He was saying employers have to provide safe working conditions so that makes sense from an HR perspective. But I don't know whether this is just because I've had Covid recently, but I've certainly reached a point where I wouldn't give two hoots whether a doctor or a nurse was vaccinated or not.

But as the Nurses Society is saying, it's not just about me, or you, and vaccine mandates are probably going to continue in the health sector because it's about protecting health staff from bugs carried by patients and hospital visitors and the like.

The Government has said there is no requirement for employers to take people back, nor is there any requirement for someone who lost their job because of the vaccination mandates to go back to their old job.

That second bit is irrelevant because do you really think the Government is going to start forcing people to go back to their old jobs? Of course not.

But what about the fact there is no obligation to take back people who were forced out of their jobs by the mandates, even though the rules have changed?

Aside from the practicalities and the likelihood that some of these people will have been replaced by other people happy to have the jab, don't you think it is unfair that people are still on the outer if they used to work somewhere where there was a vaccine mandate, but there isn't anymore?

Shouldn't they automatically be offered their old job back?

I was thinking about all the other reasons people get sacked from their jobs. And, generally, it's to do with a loss of trust, isn't it?

Someone steals from their employer. A loss of trust. They're out the door. Someone uses the company car when they shouldn't. A loss of trust. Out the door. Break the law, out the door. Break company policy, out the door.

But if someone doesn't agree that they should be vaccinated to keep their job, just because the Government says so, does that mean they can't be trusted? Of course not. There's no loss of trust there at all.

And so if the rules change - and the job they used to do is no longer Covid jab-dependent - such as teaching, for example - then why shouldn't they automatically be given the opportunity to go back?

Chances are, some people who were forced out of their jobs because of the mandates will have such a bad taste in their mouths that they wouldn't want to go back. But there is a principle here, isn't there?

And the principle, in my mind, is one of fairness. Sure, people who got the jab and kept their jobs could understandably think that it's unfair for the unvaccinated to be offered their jobs back.

Because there are many people who got vaccinated just to keep their job. And I can understand that they might be a bit peeved seeing someone who didn't take one for the team, like they did, being welcomed back into the fold.

But we can't look at it that way. I certainly thought that the no jab, no job approach was well and truly required at a certain point - back in the day when we didn't have the vaccination rates we have today.

But that time has passed. And, come September 26, the mandates will generally be a thing of the past too.

And I think anyone who lost their job because of the mandates, shouldn't be punished any longer.