ANCONA – Concern among private health workers who refuse to be vaccinated against covid-19. At the center of the question is the legal opinion requested by the Kos Care Group given the criminal responsibility for the employer in the event of contagion. Today it is around between 5 and 10% the percentage of workers who asked not to join in private health facilities or raised serious concerns about getting vaccinated against covid-19. The data, which refers to the Kos Group, which in the Marche has numerous structures active in the field of rehabilitation, such as the Santo Stefano, Rsa such as the Residenza Dorica and Campofilone and clinics such as Villa dei Pini, turns the spotlight on an issue that divides public opinion.
To get vaccinated against covid so far it has been approximately 74% of the 2,000 operators working in the Kos structures, including oss, nurses and physiotherapists. Among those who are missing, there are also those who really don’t want to be vaccinated. A rather controversial and delicate theme, which contrasts the freedom of personal choice of operators with the need to guarantee the right to health of the guests and which also calls into question a criminal responsibility for employers in case of contagion.
For this reason, with the aim of resolving the issue, Kos had requested a legal opinion last December which it exposed to operators opposed to vaccination. In the document, the lawyer stated that if the competent doctor considers vaccination to be necessary for the performance of his job and for the protection of his health and that of guests, then the refusal to undergo the vaccine “enables the employer to prevent entry into the facility, having, among other things, to guarantee the protection of the health of all other employees and guests “.
Furthermore, the employee who does not undergo the vaccine “would voluntarily put himself in the condition of not offering the job, legitimizing the employer not to perform the consideration (ie to pay the salary)” a behavior that moreover “configures a disciplinary offense“. An opinion that has raised concerns among staff who refuse to be vaccinated. There is also an open debate on the issue at national level, but returning to the events in the Marche region, some employees of these structures have brought the issue to the attention of the company they work for, but also of the trade unions.
“At the request of some operators who asked us for information on vaccination against covid, we illustrated the opinion of the lawyer” he explains Enrico Brizioli, CEO of the Kos Care group. On the issue of unpaid leave, which according to the legal opinion could risk employees who do not undergo the vaccine against covid, Brizioli underlines “for now we have not taken any initiative in this sense, we are trusting in the common sense of the people, given that the answer for now has been good: some of the operators who have not vaccinated themselves have objective reasons for not doing so, some are ill, others have had covid for a short time ».
Instead, as regards the share of employees who do not want to get vaccinated, “we hope they will have the opportunity to reflect on the subject and wait to see what the government says”. On criminal responsibilities, he adds, “we must protect ourselves from this point of view, but we have not yet taken any initiatives, let’s see how to behave also in relation to the percentage of people who believe not to get vaccinated ». Among other things, phase one, which sees the health professionals of public and private structures among the recipients of vaccination, is still in progress and therefore there is still room to join, given that, as Brizioli points out, “the epidemic is still spreading and the situation is still quite complex ».
The CISL Marche, which has received reports on the issue from some workers, announces that the unions will jointly request a meeting with the group to deal with the specific issue of unpaid leave. Luca Talevi, regional secretary FP CISL remarks: “We are in favor of vaccines, but there can be no obligation: before reaching an extreme solution, it is necessary to involve the occupational doctor, the safety representatives in the structures and the trade unions ».
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