12.03.2021

THE EMPLOYER HAS NO RIGHT TO OBLIGE WORKERS TO BE VACCINATED

Following the opening of the Green Corridors and the start of free vaccination, the question arose as to whether an employer could oblige its workers to be vaccinated. Consulting Center - Berkovitsa provides an article by Dr. Todor Kapitanov, a leading expert in labor law in Bulgaria, who unequivocally clarifies the issue.

It is not uncommon for workers to be subjected to, to put it mildly, misconduct by both their managers and other colleagues in the workplace regarding the individual decision to vaccinate or not. It is not only about pressure through threats of non-admission to work, reduction of income, deprivation of benefits at work, but even about insinuations, various hints, etc. to act in one direction or another.

What are our rights in such situations?

As everyone knows, vaccination against coronavirus (or against any other disease) is voluntary and it is everyone's right to make a personal choice. Personal choice can be dictated by any reasons - health, religious, family, professional and any other reasons that are objective or subjective and no one has the right to influence by putting pressure on them.

The right to work is regulated by a number of international, European and national laws, and this right is absolutely nowhere bound by the decision of the citizens and the actions taken by them for vaccination or not.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. It also states that everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. The issue is also settled that every person who works has the right to a fair and satisfactory remuneration to ensure his and his family's existence in accordance with human dignity and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

(Reference: Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

According to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, every worker has the right to working conditions that protect his or her health and safety and respect for his or her dignity. Citizens have the right to work, and the state takes care to create conditions for the exercise of this right. The state also creates conditions for the exercise of the right to work of persons with physical and mental disabilities and every citizen freely chooses his profession and place of work.

(Reference: Article 15 and Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union)

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, citizens have the right to work, and the state takes care of creating conditions for the exercise of this right and creates conditions for the exercise of the right to work of persons with physical and mental disabilities. Every citizen freely chooses his profession and place of work and the employees have the right to healthy and safe working conditions, to a minimum wage and to a salary corresponding to the work performed, as well as to rest and leave under conditions and in the order determined by by law.

(Reference: Article 48 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria)

It should be noted that Bulgarian law prohibits any direct or indirect discrimination based on sex, race, nationality, ethnicity, human genome, citizenship, origin, religion or belief, education, beliefs, political affiliation, personal or social status, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, property status or any other grounds established by law or in an international treaty to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party.

(Reference: Art. 4, para 1, Art. 5 and Art. 17 of the Law on Protection against Discrimination).

According to the Law on Protection against Discrimination, harassment on the basis of the above-mentioned features is considered discrimination. "Harassment" is any undesirable behavior based on discriminatory features, expressed physically, verbally or otherwise, which has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of the person and creating a hostile, offensive or threatening environment.

(Reference: §1, items 1 and 2 of the additional provisions of the Law on Protection against Discrimination).

An employer who has received a complaint from an employee who is considered to have been harassed is obliged to immediately carry out an inspection, take measures to stop the harassment, as well as to impose disciplinary liability if the harassment was committed by another employee. In case of non-fulfillment of this obligation, the employer shall be liable under the Protection against Discrimination Act for acts of discrimination committed at the workplace by his employee.

In such situations, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Commission for Protection against Discrimination if the higher authority does not investigate your case. The body responsible for preventing discrimination, protecting against discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities is the Commission for Protection against Discrimination. It is a specialized state body that monitors the implementation and compliance with the Law on Protection against Discrimination or other laws governing equality of treatment.

In any case, you could also submit a signal to the territorial directorate "Labor Inspection", accompanied by detailed information on the case.