Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has said civil servants unable to report for work because they are not vaccinated against COVID-19, will be deemed to be not working and so will not be paid for missed days.
This comes after the Cabinet on Tuesday resolved to bar all unvaccinated civil servants from reporting for work.
A directive has since been sent by the PSC to all permanent secretaries and the Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Martin Rushwaya, to ensure that they facilitate the speedy vaccination of all outstanding civil servants so that this situation does not arise.
PSC Secretary Jonathan Wutawunashe confirmed the policy that unvaccinated staff could neither work nor be paid, but that permanent secretaries had to make arrangements for the unvaccinated to get their jabs.
In a statement titled “Measures for COVID-19 containment within the Public Service”, Wutawunashe wrote:
Reference is made to the Cabinet decision issued on Tuesday 14 September 2021 regarding measures for COVID-19 containment within the Public Service.
In line with the said Cabinet decision, all civil servants should be vaccinated without delay and unvaccinated members shall not be allowed to report for duty and will not be deemed to be working.
All heads of ministries are therefore urged to make arrangements for all civil servants under their jurisdiction to be vaccinated and to explain to any who elect not to be vaccinated that they will not be deemed to be working.
The PSC will continue to communicate any reviews as the situation is managed.
All ministries are urged to cooperate as we remain alert to combating this pandemic, which would be certainly overcome through adherence to conduct and protocols prescribed by Zimbabwe health authorities, as guided by the World Health Organisation.
The government recently reaffirmed its “no work no pay” stance, and this entails that civil servants who are barred from their workplaces because they are not vaccinated will also not be paid.
Mandatory vaccination for employees is not unique to the Zimbabwean government as some companies in the West have adopted the same policy.
For instance, US news network CNN recently announced that it had sacked three employees for getting into an office without being vaccinated against COVID-19, while Facebook and Google earlier said they would require that workers be vaccinated when offices fully reopen.
