Survey: People of Estonia not in favor of vaccination being mandatory at workplaces

TALLINN - Job search and recruitment portal CV-Online has conducted a survey into attitudes towards vaccination against COVID-19 at the workplace and expectations to employers, the results of which show that while employees expect more support from their company in terms of vaccination, mandatory vaccination at the workplace is not favored.

The survey results revealed that people's attitudes towards their unvaccinated colleagues are generally positive and the respondents largely said that vaccination is an individual choice. 20 percent of the respondents said that while their colleagues could get vaccinated, they do not have any problems with their co-workers deciding not to do so. 28 percent said that not getting vaccinated jeopardizes other people's health, however.

Some 48 percent of the survey respondents said that when a new virus wave emerges, supplementary restrictions should be imposed on unvaccinated workers, such as a mask obligation, working from home on a mandatory basis, or a requirement to get tested regularly. 45 percent said that additional restrictions for unvaccinated colleagues are unnecessary.

"Employees expect their employers to provide support and to serve as role models in terms of vaccination -- 57 percent agreed that employers should serve as role models by being vaccinated," Karla Oder, marketing manager at CV-Online said.

"63 percent said that employers should grant their employees a day off for vaccination -- there is much employers can do to increase the pace of vaccination and keep work environments open," he said.

Some 45 percent of the respondent said that their employer has inquired about their employees' vaccination status and 42 percent said that their employer had recommended getting immunized. 4 percent of the people said that their employer had imposed an obligation on them to get vaccinated. 59 percent said that if their employer demanded vaccination, they would not change jobs over this demand.

While 51 percent of the respondents are not in favor of vaccination being mandatory at the workplace, 53 percent opined that vaccination should be mandatory in some fields, such as in health care and education.

The survey by CV-Online Estonia OU was carried out among 1,700 people all over Estonia at the end of July 2021, when the coronavirus infection rate began exhibiting an upward trend once more.