2021年经济学人 公司员工疫苗接种难题(1)

Business

商业版块

Bartleby A shot in the dark

巴托比职场专栏——无根据的瞎猜

How far should fi?rms go to get their staff? vaccinated¹?

为了让员工接种疫苗，企业还要走多远？

The pandemic is throwing up a new set of ethical² issues for businesses. The premise³ of “stakeholder capitalism” is not just that fi?rms should consider the interests of employees and customers, as well as shareholders⁴. It is that, by doing so, everyone gains; shareholders will prosper⁵ if workers and customers are treated decently. But the pandemic may put diff?erent groups at odds⁶. For example, customers may want companies to insist that all employees are vaccinated, while not wanting the same rule to apply to themselves.

新冠疫情给企业带来了一系列新的道德问题。“利害关系者权益理论”的前提不仅仅是企业应该考虑员工和客户的利益，股东的利益也举足轻重。而且这样的行为会让所有人受益；如果员工和客户得到合宜的对待，股东也将兴旺发达。但这次疫情可能会使不同的群体产生分歧。比如说，客户可能希望公司坚持要求所有员工都接种疫苗，却不希望同样的规则适用于自己。

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 restrictions⁷ as possible. But if a company gets a reputation for being an unsafe place to work, or for customers to visit, the eff?ect on longterm returns could be signifi?cant⁸. The perception of fairness is also essential. Woe⁹ 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.)

似乎股东们会希望尽可能多的员工重返工作岗位，公司也不要排斥潜在客户的到访，商店和餐馆等地的互动也尽可能不受限制。但是，如果一家公司因办公场所不安全，存在工作或客户来访隐患而名声大噪，这对公司长期回报的影响可能是巨大的。对公平的认识也很重要。积极抢先的高管会遇到麻烦，比如，加拿大养老基金经理马克·梅钦前往阿联酋接受注射。（但他很快就辞职了。）

Companies are not just trading off? safety and personal liberty. They risk discriminating¹⁰ against those who have yet to gain access to the vaccine¹¹ or who, for religious or medical reasons, are unwilling¹² 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 jurisdictions¹³, companies will be able to insist on a vaccine mandate¹⁴ only for new employees.

公司不仅仅是在牺牲安全和人身自由。公司有可能歧视那些尚未接种疫苗的人，或那些由于宗教或医学原因而不愿意或不能注射疫苗的人。公司没有完全的行动自由。各国的法律情况各不相同，但许多管辖区的公司可能坚持要求新员工接种疫苗。

The question of vaccination¹⁵ 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, negates¹⁶ 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.

疫苗问题在医疗服务领域尤为紧迫。人们可能希望医务工作者理解接种疫苗的必要性。然而，一些医护人员可能会觉得自己的患者大多已经感染了新冠肺炎，从而否定了接种义务。纽约哥伦比亚商学院的劳拉·布德劳指出，在医疗服务行业中，“雇主有责任设法确定其员工的安全性，不然，他们要向患者提供有关信息，明确是否有未接种疫苗的医务人员参与服务。”换而言之，未接种疫苗的医护人员最终可能要避开易感染患者。

1 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

2 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

3 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

4 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

5 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 cant   

n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔

参考例句：

• The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
• He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。

9 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

10 discriminating   

a.有辨别能力的

参考例句：

• Due caution should be exercised in discriminating between the two. 在区别这两者时应该相当谨慎。
• Many businesses are accused of discriminating against women. 许多企业被控有歧视妇女的做法。

11 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

12 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

13 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

14 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

15 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

16 negates   

v.取消( negate的第三人称单数 )；使无效；否定；否认

参考例句：

• Alcohol negates the effects of the drug. 酒精能使药物失效。
• The lack of deep hardening in these alloys negates their use. 这些合金缺乏深层硬化能力使它们无法利用。 来自辞典例句