MANILA - The supposed "no vaccination, no work" policy of some companies is impractical, the labor department and an employers' group said Thursday.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said his agency would create a department order "for the guidance of both the employee and the employer."

"Wala namang ganung polisiya, batas at higit sa lahat hindi praktikal 'yan dahil wala pa tayong sapat na vaccine," he told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

(There's no such policy or law and most of all it's impractical because we don't have enough vaccines.)

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines also denied that companies were implementing such a policy.

"'Di namin malaman saan nanggaling ang balita na 'yun...Wala. Unang-una hindi praktikal, karamihan sa mga kompanya, 'yung maliit, ay umaasa lang sa bakuna ng gobyerno. Di mo alam kailan darating 'yun at kung gusto magpabakuna ng mga tao talaga," ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr said.

(We don't know where those reports came from. It's not practical, many companies, especially small firms, rely on government's vaccines, we don't know when it will arrive and if people want to be inoculated.)

"Yung mga nagimport naman sumusunod lang sa schedule ng gobyerno 'yan so paano maiimpose ang no vaccination, no work."

(Those who imported only follow the government's schedule so how can we impose no vaccination, no work?)

Companies who have procured their own vaccine supply should not give it to their employees at a cost, Bello added.

"Kung bibili sila sa kanilang inisyatibo, hindi sila pwede magbenta sa kanilang mga empleyado. Unang-una gobyerno naman ang sasagot sa vaccines ng lahat," he said.

(If they buy at their own initiative, they can't sell ito to their employees. Government will shoulder vaccines for all.)

"Okay lang (bumili) pero kailangan ibigay nila nang libre. Kung di nila maibigay nang libre, eh 'di wag nilang pilitin ang employee nila na gumamit."

(It's okay to procure but they should give it for free. If they can't do that, they shouldn't require their employees to take it.)

The private sector, in a tripartite agreement with government and AstraZeneca, has procured 17 million vaccine doses, of which half would be donated to government frontliners.

• AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to arrive by early March: official

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv