Auckland business owner Leo Molloy talks anti-vaxxers and business in the time of Covid. Video / Michael Craig
Auckland hospitality industry figure and mayoral candidate, Leo Molloy is planning to segregate his staff when his restaurant, Headquarters, on the viaduct reopens in alert level 2.
Molloy told the Herald vaccinated staff will wear yellow T-shirts and work indoors directly with the clients. Non-vaccinated staff will wear charcoal T-shirts and work outdoors only and kitchen staff and cleaners will wear black T-shirts.
"All staff will wear masks. I wouldn't want to be served by someone who isn't vaccinated so I think customers would be happy if they know the person serving them is. It's not just the virus morphing but government policy morphing and mutating - there is no clarity in what they are planning next so I am trying to get myself in a position where I can create a number of different options for customers to feel safe, so the solution was to come up with three different uniforms," Molloy said.
Leo Molloy said vaccinated staff will wear yellow T-shirts and work indoors directly with the clients. Photo / Supplied
Non-vaccinated staff will wear charcoal T-shirts and work outdoors only and kitchen staff and cleaners will wear black T-shirts. Photo / Supplied
The owner says he hasn't had any pushback from his 60 staff and isn't bothered about violating human rights.
"Look half the world hates me but I don't give a f***. I haven't put pressure on the staff to get vaccinated. I've taken legal advice and feel I am doing the right thing. I am a great boss I am their proxy father they all have an umbilical cord to my wallet. They all understand the situation we are in and they trust me."
Molloy said he understands if some staff members aren't vaccinated because they have made a rational choice or have a pre-existing medical condition.
"I have no tolerance for anti-vaxxers who watch rubbish on YouTube and say your 'balls will glow in the dark or you'll grow an extra mammary in your forehead,' that's bull****."
Controversial businessman Leo Molloy is planning to segregate his staff when his restaurant, Headquarters, on Auckland's viaduct, reopens in Level 2. Photo / Michael Craig
Headquarters manager Kim Curtayne said the staff are receptive to Molloy's idea to segregate vaccinated staff from non-vaccinated staff.
"Leo has always been ahead of the game. It will take people a bit of time to get used to but the pandemic is serious. This idea comes from a good place, he's trying to protect the staff and look after the customers and broaden the options for people," Curtayne said.
Katherine MacNeil, general manager employment services at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, said in a statement: "A business can ask a worker about the worker's vaccination status. Generally, a worker does not have to disclose (or prove) their vaccination status to a business, unless either: For health and safety reasons, justified by Covid-19 exposure risk assessment, or because their work is covered by the Covid-19 Public Health response (vaccinations) Order 2021.
If a worker does not disclose (or provide evidence) of their vaccination status, the business may assume the worker has not been vaccinated for the purpose of managing health and safety risks.
However the business should first inform the worker of this assumption, and what will happen if the worker is not vaccinated or does not disclose their vaccination status.
"Collecting, storing and sharing information about people's vaccination status must be done in accordance with the Privacy Act," MacNeil said.
During lockdown, Molloy who describes himself as "slightly ADHD" has cooked 300 meals a day to feed the homeless, the vulnerable and frontline workers at the Waipareira Trust.
"I have seen the human collateral of lockdown. All the public toilets are closed so there is nowhere for the homeless to wash. We are very much the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff and I am very proud of that."
