Employment lawyer on unvaccinated employee protections

Interview Summary

Employers across the province of Ontario continue to impose their own vaccine policies and mandates at times without government support. Employees who are unvaccinated face possible unemployment and a lack of privacy at the workplace as a result. What can employees who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 do to protect their rights?

Lior Samfiru, an employment lawyer and co-founding partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joins Leslie Roberts on Newstalk 580 CFRA to answer this question and more on employee rights.

Interview Notes

Can employers legally incentivize employees to be vaccinated?

Employers have to be careful about imposing vaccine policies that can restrict other employees’ ability to access benefits. By incentivizing vaccination, employees who are exempt from vaccines due to medical or religious reasons, are unable to access certain benefits. This practice could be seen as discriminatory.

How much power and influence do unvaccinated employees have to fight back against mandates?

Employees who are unvaccinated overall are a small number and might not have much power on a large scale. Individual employees do have the right and ability to pursue human rights complaints. Many employees who have been penalized due to their vaccine status, such as being put on unpaid leave, will have the ability to pursue wrongful dismissal.

Will employees who have been working remotely, be able to refuse a return to the office?

Employers are obligated to implement public health and safety measures in the workplace. Employers who are following proper safety measures are permitted to request employees return to the office. Employees who were initially working at the office cannot refuse an employer’s request to return to the workplace. It is advisable for employees to speak to their employers about their concerns and work towards a compromise.