Lawyer on Yahoo News about employee rights and forced vaccinations

Interview Summary

While the upcoming implementation of COVID-19 vaccinations across the country has many Canadians hopeful and optimistic, many citizens are notably concerned over their rights in regards to their workplace.

According to Toronto employment lawyer and partner Lior Samfiru at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, who spoke with Yahoo Finance regarding employer and employee rights stating, “generally, the rule that employers have to follow is that no, they cannot require employees to get vaccinated.”

Samfiru goes on to explain employer rights further stating “they cannot prevent employees from having access to the workplace if they haven’t been vaccinated, and they cannot refuse to hire employees that have not been vaccinated. Doing that would absolutely be considered a human rights violation.”

While there could potentially be situations in which mandated vaccines are implemented, Samfiru explains those situations would be rare. “For the vast majority of employers, any considerations about workplace rights when it comes to vaccines or differentiating between people with vaccines and those that have not been vaccinated would be illegal and a human rights violation.”