Three care workers who refused to have the Covid-19 vaccine have won a legal battle to claim they were unfairly sacked.

Judge Sarah Crowther at the Employment Appeals Tirbunal ruled Ms Dimitrova, Ms Chadwick and Ms Hussain could continue their claim they were unfairly sacked by Barchester Heathcare under its ‘no jab, no job’ policy.

An Employee Tribunal in December 2022 ruled Barchester had the right to dismiss employees who refused vaccination.

The care workers refused the jab, citing religion, allergy fears, freedom of choice and testing doubts.

The December ruling found Barchester’s need to protect residents outweighed workers’ rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

In August 2022, an HC-One care worker won her right to argue she had refused the Covid vaccine on religious grounds.

A Barchester spokesperson said: “In early 2021 we took the decision that staff working in a Barchester care home or hospital must have the Covid-19 vaccine, if they wished to continue working for Barchester, in order to protect the vulnerable residents and patients in our care and also themselves.

“This isn’t a decision that we took lightly, and sought feedback from staff and residents and relatives, as well as medical specialists, in order to make the decision. Our duty is to ensure that the safety and wellbeing of our residents is always at the forefront of our decision making.

“It was our policy at the time for any new employees to have had one vaccine when they joined and commit to having their second by the end of their probation period, unless they were medically exempt.

“We welcomed the ruling of the employment tribunal who found our vaccine policy to be reasonable, and accepted the introduction of our policy to reduce the risk of spread of Covid infection in our homes and hospitals. However, we do respect personal choice and the decision of those who didn’t want the vaccine and we wish those staff well.”