A super interesting situation in Italy concerning covid. Basically an Italian business has rolled out covid testing for their 1,200 employees. It is not obligatory, there is a choice. Of the 1,200, 12 employees (1%) have refused.
The problem is that it has become known, who has refused, maybe the employees have stated their stance, the article doesn’t say, what is stated is that the vaccinated employees didn’t feel safe working alongside the non-vaccinated employees. The management has now decided that all unvaccinated employees should take 6 months leave with pay.
This brings to mind quite some dilemmas, some not linked to GDPR compliance, for example how it feels for 99% of employees who have not been offered ‘unpaid leave’… my perception is that it could be perceived as a ‘reward’? How does this work with new employees?
There are many discussions on the freedom to choose versus the safety of the individual. As anyone who knows me, I am an advocate for ‘choice’, it is a human right, and probably the most important word in the GDPR IMHO. However, when the freedom to choose can cause harm to another individual, my stance changes somewhat. Our individual choices should not harm another individual, this impacts their rights as a human being, a right to live. We should care for each other, as a community.
Although I am in the age group 50-60, so I could be biased, except that I remember having this opinion when I was 20 years old, and 30 years old… and so on. “We should not be judged on how we conduct our life, so long as it does not harm another individual”. And this is from a woman who had her first child before she turned 18 years old, and was hence damned to a life of purgatory given society norms in UK during the 1980s.
The conflict of public safety versus privacy, and our right for choice, is articulated somewhat in the GDPR -in a legal way- Article 9.2(b), of which there have been some discussions on LinkedIn. The Article itself is not clear, but if one reads associated Recitals, it gives a picture which supports public safety, versus individual choice. In Recital 52, it is referred to as a derogation which can be made for health purposes, where a serious threat is present.
I am still uncertain if I would stand by this stance if a decision was made to vaccinate all children, I have a 12-year old daughter. These vaccines haven’t been through the rigorous testing which is normal during clinical trials due to a hasty rollout…. but I guess I can append to this Post later when this topic starts to gain some traction.