COVID-19 “Passports” and the Safe Return to Work: Consideration for HR Professionals on How to Navigate This New Responsibility

Organizations worldwide are racing to create policies, processes, and actions to ensure the safe return to work in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Verifying, collating, and sharing data on COVID-19 test and vaccination status has been a key part of this, supported by employee-held digital certificates often referred to as “vaccine” passports. Since ensuring the safety and well-being of employees is a key remit of Human Resource (HR) departments, HR professionals have had a central role in managing these changes, even more so in the context of government vaccine mandates. This chapter examines sociotechnical considerations for HR professionals managing these new demands. It draws on an analysis of key dialogues within the HR community published in grey literature, interpreted through the lens of the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, adapted for the context of COVID-19. By examining the state-of-the-art and proposing recommendations it aims to assist HR managers to facilitate employees’ safe return to work while navigating this complex issue and minimizing any potential negative impact on employees’ safety, well-being, performance, or engagement. Although vaccine passports may not be a permanent feature of the work environment, we believe this chapter still makes important theoretical and practical contributions. It fills a gap in the evidence on HR professionals’ perspectives on HR management during public health emergencies and discusses emergent HR capabilities that could prove useful in a future pandemic. Finally, it suggests an agenda for research going forward.