MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Thursday said employers have the right not to hire applicants unvaccinated against COVID-19.
“Because before a person is employed, there is no employer-employee relationship. As to whether you can be employed, that’s the privilege of the employer,” Bello said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.
“Eh ‘di ba kung minsan may nakalagay na ‘Wanted: 25 years old, with pleasing personality’. Eh kung ‘di ka pleasing personality ‘di ba pwede kang i-deny?”
(Sometimes employers specify something that they are looking for, like a 25 years old with a pleasing personality. If you don’t have a pleasing personality, they could reject you, right?)
The government’s COVID-19 pandemic taskforce also earlier ruled that all employees / workers of the establishments allowed to operate in areas under alert level 3 must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
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