Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that employment protections are retained for immunocompromised people who are less protected by covid-19 vaccines.

There are a range of existing legal protections which can be engaged where an individual has an underlying health condition.

An immunocompromised person may be considered to have a disability and benefit from protections under the Equality Act, which include the duty on an employer to make reasonable adjustments. A disability under the Equality Act is defined as a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

Immunocompromised employees may also be protected against unfair dismissal. An employment tribunal will consider all the relevant facts around a dismissal in judging whether it was fair or not. This could include public health guidance regarding coronavirus for those who are immunocompromised, alongside other issues including individual behaviour.