Will staff get vaccine passports for offices?

MINISTERS are considering allowing workplaces to introduce vaccine passports to allow the reopening of offices after the pandemic has passed.

Employers would be able to compel staff to prove they had been vaccinated or had a negative test before entering the building.

Experts say it could help to end more than a year of remote working for millions of employees. Companies which use such schemes could be able to pack more staff into the office.

Yesterday afternoon, MPs held an online meeting with Michael Gove, the minister in charge of a review into vaccine passports, to put their views to him.

The discussions come as business leaders urged the Government to provide clarity on whether workers will be allowed back into offices this summer.

Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘Companies are concerned about the employment law consequences of these decisions around return to work, the concerns around potential for liability but, most of all, concerns about doing what is right for their people.’

Some bosses are urging the Government to allow them to use vaccine passports to facilitate a return to normal working practice in offices, The Financial Times reported.

A recent survey by the Chartered Management Institute found that more than half of managers wanted to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for staff returning to work.

Boris Johnson had said last week that landlords could introduce the passports in pubs to allow social distancing rules to be relaxed.