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Business
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Bartleby A shot in the dark
巴託比職場專欄——無根據的瞎猜
How far should firms go to get their staff vaccinated?
為了讓員工接種疫苗，企業還要走多遠？
The pandemic is throwing up a new set of ethical issues for businesses. The premise of “stakeholder capitalism” is not just that firms should consider the interests of employees and customers, as well as shareholders. It is that, by doing so, everyone gains; shareholders will prosper if workers and customers are treated decently. But the pandemic may put different groups at odds. For example, customers may want companies to insist that all employees are vaccinated, while not wanting the same rule to apply to themselves.
新冠疫情給企業帶來了一系列新的道德問題。“利害關係者權益理論”的前提不僅僅是企業應該考慮員工和客户的利益，股東的利益也舉足輕重。而且這樣的行為會讓所有人受益；如果員工和客户得到合宜的對待，股東也將興旺發達。但這次疫情可能會使不同的羣體產生分歧。比如説，客户可能希望公司堅持要求所有員工都接種疫苗，卻不希望同樣的規則適用於自己。
It might seem as if shareholders would want as many employees to return to work as possible, few potential customers to be excluded, and interactions in, say, shops and restaurants to be as free from restrictions as possible. But if a company gets a reputation for being an unsafe place to work, or for customers to visit, the effect on longterm returns could be significant. The perception of fairness is also essential. Woe betide the executive who jumps the queue, as in the case of Mark Machin, a Canadian pensionfund boss who travelled to the United Arab Emirates to get the jab. (He swiftly resigned.)
似乎股東們會希望儘可能多的員工重返工作崗位，公司也不要排斥潛在客户的到訪，商店和餐館等地的互動也儘可能不受限制。但是，如果一家公司因辦公場所不安全，存在工作或客户來訪隱患而名聲大噪，這對公司長期回報的影響可能是巨大的。對公平的認識也很重要。積極搶先的高管會遇到麻煩，比如，加拿大養老基金經理馬克·梅欽前往阿聯酋接受注射。（但他很快就辭職了。）
Companies are not just trading off safety and personal liberty. They risk discriminating against those who have yet to gain access to the vaccine or who, for religious or medical reasons, are unwilling or unable to be jabbed. And they do not have complete freedom of action. The legal situation will vary from country to country but it seems likely that, in many jurisdictions, companies will be able to insist on a vaccine mandate only for new employees.
公司不僅僅是在犧牲安全和人身自由。公司有可能歧視那些尚未接種疫苗的人，或那些由於宗教或醫學原因而不願意或不能注射疫苗的人。公司沒有完全的行動自由。各國的法律情況各不相同，但許多管轄區的公司可能堅持要求新員工接種疫苗。
The question of vaccination is particularly pressing in health care. One might hope that medical workers would appreciate the need for it. Yet some healthcare personnel may feel that having had covid-19, as many have, negates the obligation. Laura Boudreau of Columbia Business School in New York observes that, in this type of industry, “there is a duty for the employer to try to identify safe roles that the staff can play, and if not, to provide information to customers about whether there are unvaccinated staff in the role.” In other words, unvaccinated staff may end up being kept away from vulnerable patients.
疫苗問題在醫療服務領域尤為緊迫。人們可能希望醫務工作者理解接種疫苗的必要性。然而，一些醫護人員可能會覺得自己的患者大多已經感染了新冠肺炎，從而否定了接種義務。紐約哥倫比亞商學院的勞拉·佈德勞指出，在醫療服務行業中，“僱主有責任設法確定其員工的安全性，不然，他們要向患者提供有關信息，明確是否有未接種疫苗的醫務人員參與服務。”換而言之，未接種疫苗的醫護人員最終可能要避開易感染患者。
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