Shepparton food processor SPC says it is on track to meet its COVID-19 vaccination targets with 86 per cent of staff now indicating they have either had one dose or had booked in for a vaccine.
In August the company announced all staff, contractors and visitors would be required to be fully vaccinated by January 1, 2022.
On Wednesday staff needed to have booked their first dose at least.
CEO Robert Giles said they have been really pleased with the response so far.
"The remainder of staff we're following up that haven't responded and a lot of these are casuals, so we believe that we've just got to catch up to where they're at."
Mr Giles said they have had some objectors to their policy.
"It's just a handful it's literally in the single digits of our 600 odd staff — so a very small percentage."
Mr Giles said many of the staff they were yet to hear from were based in Shepparton and were their seasonal workers.
He said the company's other site in Emu Plains in Sydney's west had recorded 100 per cent of staff confirmed to have had a COVID-19 vaccine or booked in for their first dose.
Consultations ongoing with objectors
Mr Giles said the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Shepparton has highlighted the need for their decision to make a COVID-19 vaccination mandatory.
He said while some staff had been hesitant, the decision has been largely welcomed by staff.
"At the start, there's an element of people that don't like to be told what to do, and would have liked their own process, but I think the conversations in the community now are that if we're going to get out of lockdowns, and get back to some level of normality, the vaccination is the way to go."
The company would now start the consultation process with staff who indicated their objection, to find out their reason.
Mr Giles said if they did not deem the reason valid, termination was an option.
Staff will now have until the end of October to have had their first dose and will have until the end of the year to be fully vaccinated.
