GC businesses hire security to check staff vaccine status
SOME MEMBERS IN SECURITY ARE ALREADY BEING EMPLOYED BY SOME INDUSTRIES TO CHALLENGE STAFF WHO ARE UNVACCINATED
GOLD Coast businesses are being forced to hire security staff to check their own staff’s vaccination status and protect them from irate unjabbed customers.
Rising tensions have prompted the move ahead of the December 17 deadline for patrons to be double-vaxxed or face being banned from almost all venues statewide
All people above the age of 16 who have not received both doses over will be blocked from pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafes, nightclubs and stadiums.
Mayor Tom Tate slammed the need for “Covid cops” while Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce president Martin Hall said business owners were feeling the heat after a series of incidents in other states.
“Some of our members in the security profession are already being employed by some industries to challenge their staff who are unvaccinated,” he said.
“We have come to that point in time when companies are taking the step of having to stop their staff from coming to work.
“Other security people are being engaged by businesses ahead of December 17 to deal with the public too.”
Businesses across Australia have been forced to hire security to deal with violent and unruly customers who have refused to comply with either QR codes or showing their vaccine status.
In November, a Melbourne bookshop was forced to hire guards after its staff were attacked, with one slapped in the face and another thrown down an escalator by an irate person who refused to show their Covid certificate or use the QR code.
Mr Hall said businesses needed clarity about the roadmap ahead and what steps they would need to take once the vaccine mandate came into effect.
“Many of our businesses are saying they cannot go full-throttle because they cannot get staff,” he said.
CENTRAL CHAMBER’S MARTIN HALL
The jab mandate has been criticised by businesses as well as Mr Tate. Last month, he said if any of the Gold Coast’s 66,000 small businesses want to serve the unvaccinated – they should.
“My view is that if a business only wants to let vaccinated patrons in, that’s fine,” he said in November.
“The same applies if they want to let unvaccinated patrons in … I’m completely prochoice in that regard.”
On Monday, Mr Tate said he was “disheartened” businesses had to hire private security to police the mandate.
“Front-door staff are not ‘Covid cops’ and to have security checking a person’s health status goes against the hospitality industry’s core values which are to welcome everyone at their door,” Mr Tate said.
“That is why it is called hospitality and my view is that if business have to hire private security for the safety of their staff, or patrons, I’d urge the state to compensate those businesses for the considerable expense this will incur.’’
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also taken shots at the state government’s stance to prohibit unvaccinated people from entering pubs and cafes once the state hit the 80 per cent fully vaccinated threshold.
He recently said people should be allowed to “get a cup of coffee” regardless of their vaccination status.
In response, Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles said Mr Morrison was undermining Queenslanders’ vaccine efforts.