Speaking to Lawyers Weekly ahead of the webinar, Ms Mataere said that moving forward, businesses will need to increasingly adapt and change their working environments in response to new variants of COVID-19.

“The Delta variant has changed the game in terms of COVID management as we have seen the public policy position change from elimination of the virus to learning to live with the virus. Consequently, businesses will also need to change their working environments to adapt and account for the Delta strain,” she said.

“Businesses will need to assess working environments to not only ensure that all Public Health Order requirements are complied with, but to also consider what other actions or changes may be needed to enable compliance with safety obligations; being the provision of a safe working environment.”

Additionally, she urged businesses to “dust off” their COVID safety plans and start implementing them to make sure the Delta variant doesn’t negatively impact their workplace.

“Before implementing any strategies, businesses need to undertake risk assessments to ensure the strategies or control measures are appropriate to the level of risk within their workplace,” Ms Mataere added.

During the discussion, Professor Bennett said that companies not only have to think about overall risk when it comes to the Delta variant, but also how it could potentially impact their business.

“You have to not just think about overall coverage, but also whether there might be parts of your workforce who are working together,” she explained.

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“If you had a group that was less likely to be vaccinated, it’s good to be aware of that, because that would be the group that might be at risk of not only bringing the virus to work (because they’re more likely to be the people who could acquire it in the community) but also it could spread more quickly through that working group and that might then have implications for how you manage your workforce.”

Ms Mataere said that in light of how quickly the Delta variant can spread throughout the community, employees should expect questions about their vaccination status to come up.

“Expect to be asked, both within your own workplace and when visiting other workplaces, whether you have received a COVID vaccine or not,” she said.

“You should also expect to have different safety protocols apply to you based upon whether you have received the vaccine or not.”

Whilst whether or not law firms can or should mandate vaccinations has been a big point of discussion post-pandemic, the Human Rights Law Centre recently warned against mandating vaccines outside of high-risk areas and called for a greater focus on supply and voluntary measures. 

This followed the announcement that fruit packing and canning company SPC will mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for all on-site staff and visitors, sparking a debate about the risks and benefits of doing so.

A number of challenges have already been identified in the notion of company-mandated vaccinations, but Ms Mataere said that vaccine declarations would be the way forward for workplaces.

“Employees should expect to have to declare whether they are vaccinated or not moving forward. Indeed, anyone visiting another workplace should expect to declare whether they are vaccinated or not, given the safety obligations of all businesses,” she said.  

“Business should also remember that vaccinations are merely one tool to manage the risk of the Delta variant within the workplace and that other control measures such as masks, ventilation, social distancing etc will also still be required.

“Additionally, it is evident that the public policy decision on managing the virus has changed such that there is an expectation that the virus will continue to circulate in the community.  Accordingly, it is imperative that businesses act now to prepare their workplaces and staff for an easing of restrictions with the virus still in circulation.”