Proceedings of The 5th International Conference on Research in Business, Management and Finance
Year: 2022
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/5th.icrbmf.2022.09.250
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Towards Ableism Against Unvaccinated Workers in The “Post-COVID-19” Workplace? Emergent Labor Market Controversies Following the Israeli Inoculation Campaign
Shani Kuna
ABSTRACT:
Accumulating studies have addressed the stark inequalities revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering the progress of SARS-CoV-2 inoculation, there is a risk that embedded inequalities will be further exacerbated due to uneven access to “post-vaccine” labour markets. Considering that human resource management (HRM) has played a significant role during COVID-19, the purpose of this study is to decipher the stance of HRM professionals in regards the inoculation controversy, which has percolated from society to the labour market. In depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 Israeli prominent HRM professionals from varied business organizations. The findings suggest that unvaccinated workers and jobseekers are highly susceptible to both openly acknowledged and covert discrimination against them by employers as well as co-workers. HRM professionals are particularly concerned about discrimination against unvaccinated jobseekers in recruitment and selection processes, and discrimination against unvaccinated workers leading to employee dismissal. This study, which reflects current HRM controversies, makes a contribution to the critical theorizing of the post-COVID-19 workplace as regards non-vaccination as a cause of discrimination.
keywords: COVID-19, Discrimination, Human resource management, Unvaccinated workers