By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

LABOUR and Immigration Minister Keith Bell said yesterday Atlantis has agreed to “hold off” on implementing its COVID-19 vaccination policy for unvaccinated staff after several discussions were held between labour officials and resort executives on the new rule.

“I have reached out to the Director of Labour, Mr Robert Farquharson, and he’s communicated with Atlantis and there are a number of other employers who are concerned about that because they want to ensure that they comply with the legislation which is to ensure a safe work environment,” Mr Bell told reporters yesterday.

“In order to ensure that there is a safe work environment, they have to ensure that all of their employees are either vaccinated or tested to make sure that they don’t bring COVID into the workplace. We have been able to convince Atlantis and the other private sector employers to hold off on implementing that policy.”

Mr Bell said his ministry is now seeking legal advice from the Attorney General’s Office on the way forward.

 “I’ve consulted with the Office of the Attorney General and I’ve spoken with the attorney general this morning to give us legal advice and we will be guided by the advice of the attorney general,” Mr Bell said. “And so he has already, I believe, directed (officials) to ensure that the advice is given timely and so I would wait on that advice, but Atlantis is holding off on that policy. That’s the main thing to be had.”

 In a letter sent to staff on Wednesday, Audrey Oswell, Atlantis’ president and managing director, announced that all unvaccinated staff will be “financially responsible” for paying for their weekly $16.50 rapid antigen test starting today.

 The policy was announced earlier this year and initially expected to come into effect in September.

 According to Ms Oswell, the order was a part of the resort’s approach in “putting the community’s health and the economy first.”

 “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,” Ms Oswell said.

 “… 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.”

 When contacted by this newspaper yesterday, Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU) president Darrin Woods reiterated his belief that Atlantis and other employers cannot force workers to pay for their weekly COVID tests as it is in violation of Bahamian law.

 Mr Woods said while he has heard the resort intends to postpone the policy, he believes there needs to be a long-term solution as the union simply does not want a “temporary fix.”

 “This is a matter that we’ve been trying to address now from June really right down to the former administration to get some definitive position on it because, according to the law, employers shall not pass or cause any fee to be levied on its employees in anything coming out of the Health and Safety Act in terms of making sure that their place is safe,” Mr Woods told The Tribune.

 “Further, the Director of Labour who was of the same view when he started another place and we would’ve actually spoken with the minister directly last night and he indicated to me that he was getting legal advice from the Attorney General, and I have heard that they have agreed to postpone it.

  “For us, postponing it is good in the interim stage…but we don’t want a temporary fix because that’s all we’ve been getting in the past 12 weeks. When they were actually about to implement it on September 1, they decided not to after speaking with the former government. They decided to push it to October.

 “We believe it was a political move because we said to them the same thing we’re saying now in that the payment should not be passed off to the employees,” he added.