St Vincent and the Grenadines – Unvaccinated teachers who continue to turn up to work despite the government’s vaccine policy, will not be paid at the end of the month.
Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said “So that if you don’t take the vaccine…unless you have one of the two exemptions, unless the Public Service Commission declares otherwise, you are deemed to have abandoned your office and the office becomes vacant and you cease to be an officer. That’s the end of that. And if your office is vacant, you can’t get paid,”
Friday December 3 was the final day for teachers and other public workers to be vaccinated
against COVID-19 if they wanted to keep their jobs.
This is as a result of SR&O #28 of 2021-The Public Health (Public Bodies Special Measures) Rules, which came into effect on November 19 and required these specific groups to take the jab or lose their jobs.
Failure to be vaccinated results in workers being deemed to be absent from duty without leave and, in keeping with public service regulations, any worker who is absent from duty without leave for 10 working days, unless declared otherwise by the Public Service Commission, shall be deemed to resigned from their office and ceases to be an employee of the state.
However, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU), in a letter to its membership urged both vaccinated and unvaccinated teachers to continue physical and online classes, Monday December 6 and Thursday, December 9.
The Union intends to stage several protests across the island on Friday.
The prime minister reiterated that according to law, unvaccinated workers in the categories outlined in SR&O No 28 of 2021 (Public Health (Public Bodies Special Measures) Rules) will no longer receive a salary as they have abandoned their jobs.
