An arbitrator in Ontario recently decided that when the intrusiveness of an employer’s compulsory Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Screening Program was weighed against the objective of preventing the spread of COVID-19, the policy was reasonable.
Ontario announced that with improvements in key indicators relating to public health and health care, and the provincewide vaccination rate surpassing targets, it will be moving all Ontario regional health units to Stage Three of its Roadmap to Reopen.
On June 24, 2021, Ontario announced that with improvements in key indicators relating to public health and health care, and the provincewide vaccination rate surpassing targets, it will be moving to Step Two of its Roadmap to Reopen ahead of schedule.
Just six weeks after holding that Ontario Regulation 228/20 under the ESA did not remove an employee’s common law right to claim constructive dismissal arising from a layoff during the pandemic, the Ontario SJC came to the opposite conclusion.
Based on the provincewide vaccination rate and continuing improvements in key public health and health system indicators, Ontario has announced that it will enter Step One of the Roadmap to Reopen on June 11 rather than on June 14.
On May 11, 2021, British Columbia (BC) announced that it had introduced Bill 13, Employment Standards Amendment Act (No. 2), 2021 (Bill 13) for first reading. If passed, Bill 13 will amend the province’s Employment Standards Act to add two new leaves.
On May 20, 2021, Ontario released its long-awaited Roadmap to Reopen (Roadmap), a three-step plan to safely and gradually reopen the province and loosen certain public health restrictions.
