- Virgin Australia has today announced that it is commencing consultation with employees and unions over itsproposalto require COVID-19 vaccination for all team members, on the basis that vaccination is necessary to keep their people, customers and the wider Australian community safe.
- Aconsultation process will commence shortly with relevant unions, employees and safety committees. Under the proposed policy, frontline team members will be required to be vaccinated by 15 November 2021, and all office-based team members by 31 March 2022.
- Following consultation,and after we have considered feedback from employees and unions, a final policy will be announcednextmonth.
- Virgin Australia understands some team members have concerns and questions and has establishedaneducation campaign to assure and inform as many employees as possible ahead of 15 November 2021.
- Virgin Australia will launch its VA-X & WIN competition for staff and customersthis weekto encourageallAustralians to get behindvaccination.
BRISBANE, 30 August 2021:Virgin Australia has announced that itis commencing consultation with unions and employees to require COVID-19 vaccination for all team members. The company beileves thatrequiring vaccination is thebestway to protect the health and safety of our workforce, and in turn the wider Australian community and everyone's way of life.
Aconsultation process will commence shortly with relevant unions, employees and safety committees before Virgin Australia decides a final policy next month.
It is currently proposed that all frontline team members be vaccinated by 15 November 2021, and all office-based team members by 31 March 2022. Those with medicalissuesthat can be substantiated will bemanagedonacase-by-case basis.
Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said that recent events have demonstrated that it only takes one person to create a knock-on effect which creates significantimpacts forour employees and the community more broadly.
"Virgin Australia is not alone as a business in being deeply affected by the events of recent months.Itisclear that vaccinationis the only way back to normal freedom of movement and the richness in life that comes from spending meaningful, in person time with family, friends and colleagues.
"Vaccination is the only solution to the situation Australia currently finds itself in, and something we have determined isvitalto keepourteamsafe, given the high public exposure most ofthemencounter day to day.
"The majority of our team at Virgin Australia are already vaccinated, and we willbelistening to ourteam membersto ensure we find the best fit policy for our organisation.We will now commence discussing the proposedvaccinationrequirement in detail with our teamthrough our internalsafety committees, unions and other appropriate forums.
"We know that some team members have questions and concerns about vaccinations. Through an internal campaign of education withqualifiedexperts, we aim to inform and assure as many ofour team membersas possible.
"We trust medical experts, their advice and the evidence that shows that vaccines save lives and reduce hospitalisation rates.
"Virgin Australiarecognisesthe critical imperative to get the broader community vaccinated and will launch a competition this week to encourage as many people as we can to roll up their sleeves. We arealsosupportive of government-led measuresto ensure travellers are vaccinated," Ms Hrdlicka said.
Virgin Australia will continue to assist employees withsecuring vaccinationappointmentsand provide flexible working arrangements, so team members can receive their vaccinations.
A recent survey of Virgin Australia team members found that over 75 per centof our frontline workforce have received at least one dose of a COVID-19vaccine,with another 9 per cent registeredforvaccination. In relation to our office-based workforce, who do not get the same priority access to vaccines as our frontline team members, over 56 per cent have had at least one dose, with another 27 per cent registered to be vaccinated.
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