Photo/Illutration Electric appliance retailer Nojima Corp. has provided employees with a sticker that says “Vaccinated” to be put on their name tags. (From the company’s official website)

Employees at Nojima Corp.’s electric appliance stores are displaying symbols on their name tags indicating that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to reassure customers.

Watami Co. is set to introduce a similar system at a new type of “izakaya” Japanese-style pub opening in November before expanding to other restaurant chains.

Experts are divided over such efforts, however. Some argue that employees’ freedom of choice of not being vaccinated should be respected.

Nojima, a major electronics retailer based in Kanagawa Prefecture, has distributed a sticker that says “Vaccinated” to employees who have received the novel coronavirus vaccine twice through its workplace-inoculation program.

It is up to each employee whether to get vaccinated or whether to put the sticker on their name tags at outlets. No confusion has been reported in or outside the company, a Nojima representative said.

Watami, which operates izakaya chains, plans to encourage its 1,500 or so employees to be vaccinated in their municipalities or elsewhere.

“We want to provide an environment for customers to feel reassured,” a representative said, adding that there are no plans to conduct workplace inoculations.

The vaccination is not mandatory. Watami plans to ask employees to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on a regular basis if they are unwilling to get a shot. It is not clear whether the company will cover the costs of the tests.

Employees who have either taken the second shot or tested negative in a regular PCR check will be given a symbol on their name tags.

Hideo Kumano, a chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute Inc., evaluates such efforts positively.

“It takes a variety of efforts to achieve herd immunity,” he said. “It is an effort that makes a difference when it comes to what measures companies can take.”

However, Chikara Shimasaki, a lawyer well-versed in workers’ rights, raised concerns.

“Companies are at liberty to encourage their employees to get vaccinated or give preferential treatment to those vaccinated, but their freedom of not receiving the shots must also be respected,” he said. “Companies must ensure that unvaccinated employees won’t suffer any disadvantages.”

Major supermarket chain Aeon Co. and Oriental Land Co., which operates Tokyo Disney Resort, said they have no plans to indicate employees’ vaccination status on their name tags.

Aeon has begun workplace inoculations. A representative said the company’s efforts are limited to providing an opportunity for employees to get vaccinated.

Under the Immunization Law, people are only encouraged to receive the novel coronavirus vaccine and are given leeway to decide whether to get the shot.

In its guide for companies providing workplace inoculations, the health ministry has asked business operators to gain consent from employees and refrain from requiring them to be vaccinated.

(This article was written by Yo Noguchi, Junki Watanabe and Kazumi Tako.)

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