Supermarkets take hard line vax stance
WOOLWORTHS, Coles and Aldi have announced all staff will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to continue working in their stores.
The three supermarket giants are the latest in a string of Australian major corporations that have announced compulsory vaccinations for staff in recent weeks.
All three publicly released their new rules within minutes of each other on Thursday morning.
At Woolworths, the proposed timeline for the full vaccination requirement of staff in the ACT, NSW, the Northern Territory, Victoria and Western Australia is January 31 and March 31 in the other states.
The Woolworths Group said it expected to release its policy in November.
“We have a clear obligation to provide our team members with the safest possible work environment as we supply the food and essential needs our communities rely on,” Woolworths Group chief executive Brad Banducci said.
“After careful review of the best medical advice, we’ve made the decision to require all of our team members in Australia to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.”
ALDI Australia chief executive Tom Daunt said it was their view that requiring all employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the future was the best measure to ensure the health and safety of our teams and our customers.
He said they had commenced consultation and, after “consideration of the feedback provided, we will announce our plans to all employees”.