With key public health indicators beginning to show signs of improvement and expected to continue, Ontario announced that commencing January 31, 2022, it would begin to take steps to cautiously and gradually ease public health measures.
The Firm’s International Practice Group has once again updated its COVID-19 Vaccination: A Littler Global Guide on Legal & Practical Implications in the Workplace.
As expected, in the UK there has been an increase in employees seeking to bring claims of automatic unfair dismissal where they have been dismissed for safety-related reasons stemming from COVID-19.
On January 26, 2022, OSHA withdrew its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which required large employers to ensure that their employees either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular COVID-19 testing.
In Canada Post Corporation and Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), the arbitrator denied CUPW’s cease and desist application filed under the collective agreement, which arose when the employer imposed a mandatory vaccination policy.
Governor Murphy has signed an order requiring that healthcare workers and those at high-risk congregate settings be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including receipt of a booster shot, or have their employment terminated.
In Teamster’s Local Union 847 v. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the arbitrtor denied a union’s grievance over an employer’s policy that required its employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and to disclose their vaccine status.
Ontario announced that commencing January 31, 2022, in the absence of concerning trends, it would begin to take steps to cautiously and gradually ease public health measures in phases with 21 days between each step.
In Bunge Hamilton Canada, Hamilton, Ontario v. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, Local 175 (Bunge), Arbitrator Robert J. Herman dismissed a union grievance challenging the employer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
