The Tribune

• PI resort’s unvaccinated staff to pay from October 1

• ‘COVID-free Bahamas’ only way tourism ‘can thrive’

• Union refers issue to Labour Dept over law violation

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The hotel union last night said it has referred Atlantis’ plan to make all unvaccinated staff pay for weekly COVID-19 tests from tomorrow to the Department of Labour as it seeks the Government’s intervention.

Darrin Woods, the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) head, told Tribune Business he maintained his belief that the Paradise Island mega resort and other employers cannot mandate that workers pay because it would represent a violation of Bahamian law.

Asserting that the newly-elected Davis administration “haven’t got time to fiddle their thumbs”, he reiterated that the Health and Safety at Work Act’s section nine forbids Bahamian employers from imposing any financial “levy” on staff to ensure they comply with this law’s stipulations.

This was viewed by unionists as barring companies from requiring non-vaccinated staff to pay for COVID-19 tests out of their own salaries, and Mr Woods was last night backed up by Robert Farquharson, who is understood to have been reappointed as the Government’s director of labour with effect from Monday.

While Mr Farquharson declined to comment on that posting, referring Tribune Business to Keith Bell, minister of labour and Immigration, he added that in his position as vice-chairman of the National Tripartite Council “our position remains the same” in that making unvaccinated employees pay for their own COVID tests “violates section nine of the Health and Safety at Work Act”.

“I can also advise you that the matter has been put before the minister of labour, and he expects to address it shortly,” Mr Farquharson told this newspaper. “That’s certainly one of the things that has to be looked at.”

The duo spoke out after Audrey Oswell, Atlantis’ president and managing director, told staff in a letter yesterday that all unvaccinated staff will be “financially responsible” for paying for their weekly $16.50 rapid antigen test with effect from Friday, October 1.

Asserting that the Paradise Island mega resort was following other Bahamian companies “in putting the community’s health and the economy first”, Ms Oswell said Atlantis will cease encouraging COVID-19 testing as an alternative to vaccination.

Pointing out that “a COVID-free Bahamas” is the only way for the economy and tourism industry “to thrive again”, she wrote: “Some of you have decided not to get vaccinated and instead participate in weekly testing to ensure you are healthy on the job. As we have shared since July, Atlantis will not pay the cost of testing indefinitely. We also will not continue to encourage testing as an alternative to vaccination.

“Effective October 1, 2021, Atlantis joins many other Bahamian companies in requiring team members who are not vaccinated to be financially responsible for their weekly rapid antigen test. We have secured a highly discounted rate of $16.50 a week for unvaccinated team members to receive this test.”

Noting COVID-19’s “significant and immeasurable” impact on Atlantis over the past 18 months, Ms Oswell continued: “We have done everything we can to protect our health and safety in the workplace during this difficult period. We have also taken every step possible to foster an environment where our guests feel confident and comfortable returning to Atlantis and The Bahamas.

“Travel and tourism are our livelihood and serve as the foundation of the Bahamian economy. We know the safest and most effective way to fight COVID-19 is through vaccination. I am grateful to many of you who have taken steps to become fully vaccinated.

“By getting the free and widely available vaccine, you are protecting yourself and your family, colleagues, our guests, and the community from COVID-19. You are also playing an essential role in helping achieve a COVID-free Bahamas, which is the only path forward for our economy and tourism to thrive again.”

Describing “a shared responsibility” for keeping staff members, Atlantis and the wider Bahamas free from COVID-19, Ms Oswell concluded: “This issue is more significant than any one individual or Atlantis – it impacts our family, friends, neighbours and the industry.

“Atlantis is proud to join with a growing number of Bahamas-based and international companies in taking the same approach in putting the community’s health and the economy first.” An Atlantis spokesperson last night said they did not have data on how many of the resort’s estimated 6,600 staff have been fully vaccinated, although the human resources department was now compiling that information.

Given that staff interact with each other in close proximity regularly, as well as with guests, the spokesperson said requiring unvaccinated employees to pay for their weekly COVID-19 antigen tests was “the next step” in incentivising them to become inoculated. This, they added, would ensure they better protect themselves, their families, community and tourists against COVID-19.

“We’re joining Baha Mar and other companies that have implemented that policy for their employees, and we’re trying to get more vaccinated,” the spokesperson said. “We’ve done everything we can. We had the raffle where we gave away a couple of thousand dollars for employees, so this is the next step.”

Tribune Business understands that Baha Mar has required unvaccinated employees to pay for their weekly tests for about a month now. The Atlantis spokesperson cited the John Bull Group of Companies and the Margaritaville resort as two other employers that have implemented such a policy, but that could not be confirmed before press time last night.

Mr Woods, meanwhile, said Atlantis had wanted to make unvaccinated staff pay for their COVID tests from September 1, but argued that the resort delayed this by a month due to the then-upcoming general election. He added that fellow Paradise Island-based resort, the Four Seasons Ocean Club, also wanted to make their staff pay. 

“This matter has now been referred to the director of labour [Mr Farquharson], who happens to be the same person that was saying it should not happen,” Mr Woods told Tribune Business. “I spoke to him on Monday, so now the new minister of labour and Immigration has to get to work.

“The first concern I have is that this violates the law, the Health and Safety at Work Act, which says that anything in this Act cannot be passed on to the employee. They’re trying to make vaccines mandatory, saying that if you are unvaccinated you have to pay for your test. 

“Now, unfortunately, the Government doesn’t have any time for slackness to ride. They have to get to work on behalf of the workers.... I ain’t playing. They haven’t got time to fiddle their thumbs. It’s time to get to work,” he continued.

“The workers in the hospitality industry have caught eternal hell over the past 18-20 months because of the emergency orders, and they are now being asked to pay for testing in the slowest period of the tourism calendar when days have been reduced and there is less work.”

Mr Woods also argued that the testing payment requirement represented an arbitrary, unilateral change to a worker’s terms and conditions of employment, thus representing a breach of the Employment Act. And Mr Farquharson previously warned that requiring minimum wage workers to pay could push them below this legal salary floor in terms of take home pay.