EU Court: Employers can require vaccination for staff exposed to biological risks

Directive 89/391/EEC “Measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers” and Directive 2000/54/EC “Protection of workers from risks related to exposure to biological agents” must be interpreted as meaning that they “do not preclude national legislation under which an employer may require workers with whom he has concluded an employment contract to be vaccinated if they are exposed to a biological risk”.

In these terms, the Court of Justice of the European Union (judgment of 12 June 2025) ruled on the request for a preliminary ruling raised by the Supreme Court of Estonia in a dispute between several ambulance drivers and the municipality of Tallinn regarding the termination of employment contracts pursuant to national legislation under which "the employer may impose more stringent health and safety requirements than those provided for by law (...). Risks to workers' health must be reduced to the lowest possible level by applying the following measures (...) ensuring that workers exposed to biological risk factors for which effective vaccines exist have the opportunity to be vaccinated."

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the vaccination requirement under Estonian law does not implement European law since Directive 2000/54/EEC contains only organizational provisions on the prevention of biological risks ('...The risk assessment should identify workers for whom special protection measures may be necessary....Where a risk to the safety and health of workers arises due to their exposure to biological agents against which effective vaccines exist, employers should offer vaccination to workers...'), while Directive 89/391/EEC does not contain any specific provisions on the vaccination of workers.

Hence the judgment in the narrative which confirms the constant orientation of the case law of the Court of Justice (judgment of 26 February 2013, Åklagaren v. Hans Åkerberg Fransson, C-617/10, paragraph 19, and judgment of 13 June 2024, Monmorieux, C 380/23, paragraph 29) according to which the fundamental rights guaranteed in the European single legal order «apply in all situations governed by Union law, but not outside them».