Employment lawyer on COVID-19 vaccinations for LTC employees

With more COVID-19 vaccines available across the province of Ontario, some industries are struggling with whether or not their employees will need to be vaccinated. Will employers in the health-care sector and long-term care homes be able to mandate vaccinations?

Alex Lucifero, an Ottawa employment lawyer and partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joins CBC News and CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning to discuss the possibility of mandatory vaccines for long-term care home employees.

“It is an unprecedented topic … in the sense that there are no previously decided court decisions,” says Lucifero, “this is effectively unchartered territory.” Lucifero goes on to explain that mandatory vaccines could differ depending on the industry as it can be argued the benefits of mandatory vaccination may outweigh employee rights.

“I believe employers will ultimately try to impose mandatory vaccination, and it will then come down to whether there are any challenges,” Lucifero states, “however ultimately, a court will decide whose rights are more important.”

“The government has been hesitant to intervene. It would be helpful for employers and employees if the government carved out specific industries where vaccines could be mandatory — but that’s not likely to happen,” Lucifero says, “should they become mandatory in some places, many could still refuse on medical and religious grounds.”