On May 12, 2022, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its long-awaited decision in a case concerning whether an Ontario regulation precludes an employee who was laid off during the pandemic from claiming constructive dismissal at common law.
On April 22, 2022, Ontario announced that it is maintaining the existing provincial masking requirements in select higher-risk indoor settings, as well as other current directives, until June 11, 2022.
Since late fall 2021, we have seen a steady flow of arbitration awards emerge in Ontario and British Columbia that consider issues relating to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in the unionized workplace.
An arbitrator recently decided that the mandatory vaccination policy of BC Hydro was reasonably necessary to justify the significant intrusion on its employees’ bodily integrity and medical privacy - but the policy's discipline aspect was unreasonable.
An arbitrator in British Columbia held that an employer rightfully terminated an employee who was ineligible for work for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine despite a government order requiring it.
An Ontario arbitrator recently upheld a retirement home’s mandatory vaccination policy as a reasonable workplace rule consistent with the collective agreement, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Retirement Homes Act, 2010.
An arbitrator has upheld the Toronto District School Board’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, determining determined that the policy did not infringe section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and was a reasonable exercise of management rights.
An arbitrator has made another contribution to the “weight of authority” in Ontario labour arbitration awards pertaining to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in unionized workplaces.
On March 17, 2022, Canada announced that, effective April 1, 2022, fully vaccinated travellers will no longer be required to provide a pre-entry COVID-19 test result to enter Canada.