The responses of 68 event organisers and event businesses suggest that most are not enthusiastic to take on the burden of mandating COVID vaccines for staff. Furthermore, less a third (32%) are confident that they are covered for liability in the event of a claim arising from mandating vaccines.
The invitation to take part in the survey, which was anonymous, was emailed by EventOrganisers.com.au twice over 5 days. Respondents were given the opportunity to give their thoughts on the past two years and ideas for business events recovery. The comments pointed to poor leadership throughout the pandemic, a need for a unified voice for the events industry, lack of skilled staff, poor treatment of the events industry by governments, uncertainty with state borders, not to mention the emotional toll these uncertainties have exacted on employers and employees alike.
If you are the business owner or part of the executive team, what best describes your personal thoughts about mandating COVID vaccinations for your staff?
41% Mandating the vaccine for our staff is a safe and responsible measure and I’m fully behind it.
7% We will reluctantly mandate the vaccine for staff but I am uncomfortable with the decision
43% We’ll will encourage staff to take the vaccine but will not mandate it
9% Employees have a right to medical privacy and the decision to have a vaccination is a personal one
48% I’m fully behind the idea of mandated vaccinations
39% It doesn’t bother me, I’m already vaccinated
9% I will probably get vaccinated, but if my employer tells me I have to do it, I’ll get another job
4% For personal reasons I will not take the vaccine and I won’t be influenced by mandates from my employer
Employers are already understaffed and suffering a skills shortage. A 13% loss of experienced staff as they move into business events recovery would have a significant impact on revenue opportunity.
32% None at all. We’ve done our homework, taken legal advice and feel confident we are covered
22% We’ve sought advice but been given no clear indication of our position should an employee claim for unfair dismissal if we mandate the vaccine, suffers a side effects or if a client gets infected from an unvaccinated member of staff
46% Very concerned. The legal position is unclear and the government has provided no direction at all
Over two thirds of the respondents have received no definitive advice on liability or are very concerned about their legal position on mandating vaccines for staff. ‘Government is just passing the parcel’
6% We will be back in full swing in the next six months
41% It will take at least a year to recover
48% It will take up to three years to get back to pre-pandemic levels of business and staffing
5% I’m not sure the organisation will recover
Corporate event managers employed by businesses outside of the events industry were invited to take part in the poll. Even with these responses nearly half state that it will take up to three years to fully recover to pre pandemic levels.
