Employment lawyer on challenges of mandatory vaccines

The federal government of Canada recently announced all federal and federally regulated employees will have to be vaccinated before October of this year. This news was greeted by some employees and employers with concerns. Will this mandate pose challenges for the government and employers?

Lluc Cerda, an Alberta employment lawyer and Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP spoke with Global News and says, “I think it’s pretty much guaranteed there will be charter challenges as a vaccine is not a small intrusion on people’s security.”

Cerda adds employers should be wary of terminating employees who have chosen not to get vaccinated. “If the termination is found to be discriminatory, this person might be reinstated into the workplace with back pay,” he says. “Even if it’s not discriminatory, which is unlikely, the employer probably doesn’t have just cause to terminate this person… for not taking a vaccine.”

What legal implications face employers who choose to mandate vaccines?

“The COVID issue is very, very fluid and it will be challenging for most employers to show that there is such a dire need for vaccine policies that they can force their employees to do it on the threat of termination,” Cerda explains.

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“There could be discriminatory implications, there could be severance package implications which could result in a lot of legal exposure for the private businesses in Alberta.”