Lufthansa’s Swiss subsidiary, Lufthansa, wants to eliminate those who do not want to be vaccinated

Swiss airline Lufthansa warns unvaccinated employees not to terminate service. The airline is expected to announce layoffs from the end of January 2022 for employees who do not want to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, it says.

An on-demand spokesperson said cockpit and cabin staff who need more time to make a decision can initially be off work for six months and return within that time, provided they are fully vaccinated. However, anyone who does not want to be vaccinated at all will be fired.

breach of duty

She said that if employees can provide medical reasons for not being able to get vaccinated, but according to the spokesperson, individual solutions are being sought.

Non-compliance with mandatory vaccination, according to the Swiss, is considered a breach of duty under the employment contract, which entails taking measures in a gradual process. “If the decision against vaccination continues, the step-by-step process will likely be completed at the end of January 2022 when a notice of termination is served,” the spokesperson said.

Currently, less than half of the airline’s employees are likely to be threatened by termination. According to the spokesperson, the airline’s vaccination rate is slightly higher than the vaccination rate for the general population, which is currently 54.9 percent.

Full vaccination by December

Swiss announced on August 24 that its employees will have to be vaccinated. According to the airline, the consistent implementation of mandatory vaccination is of central importance to a stable operation. In order to continue using the flight service from December, the entire cabin crew must therefore be vaccinated by December 1, 2021.

For employees, this means they must receive their second dose of the vaccine by November 15 at the latest. According to the information, Switzerland sought to hold talks with the union of pilots Aerobers and the union of Cabers, which represents the cabin crew, “and let the talks flow into considerations of consequences.” The Tamedia newspapers had previously reported about the impending layoffs.