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Will I see you – in person – in September?

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Olivia Cicchini, Labor Law Content Specialist at Peninsula Canada, said fall is likely to bring many challenges for employers and employees, especially as they tend to have different views on how it works. real working from home.

“So it’s strange, a lot of employees said they felt more productive when working from home, while a lot of employers said they thought productivity had gone down because obviously you can’t Monitor the employee in person if he’s working remotely, ”Cicchini said.

Employers will have the power to decide when employees will return, who will return and whether they will allow some to continue working from home, possibly for accommodation reasons, she said.

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“I think most employers will want their employees to return to the workplace,” Cicchini said.

Statistics Canada said in April that 32% of Canadian employees aged 15 to 69 worked mostly from home, up from 4% in 2016.

Nine in ten of these new teleworkers thought they were as or more productive than when they were in their old workplace, according to Statistics Canada.

Those who felt less productive often blamed the lack of interaction with co-workers, childcare demands, inadequate workspace, or problems with internet speed.

Eight in 10 new teleworkers said they would like to work at least half of their hours from home even when the pandemic doesn’t force it, and about one in three would prefer to work most or all of the time from home.

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“I think one of the biggest challenges will even be getting employees back to work,” Cicchini said.

Many employees have become accustomed to working from home, taking advantage of the travel time and money saved, and may now have childcare or dependent care obligations, she said.

One of the trickiest issues with any return to the physical workplace will be vaccination status, she said.

“Vaccinated employees fear returning home and having to work alongside unvaccinated colleagues, while unvaccinated employees fear returning home and perhaps having a stigma surrounding their choice not to be vaccinated or if they do not. cannot because of their religion. , their pre-existing health issues, something like that, ”Cicchini said.

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An unvaccinated employee is safe from discrimination if the refusal is based on grounds protected by human rights law, she said.

“There is no protection for being an anti-vaccine,” she said.

Employers can ask their employees if they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, but the worker has no legal obligation to provide proof or even answer the question, she said.

Without the employee’s permission, the employer cannot disclose her vaccination status to her co-workers, she said.

“What we said was that we strongly advise employees to respond because employers have a duty to make sure the workplace is safe for staff, visitors, customers, all of those people.” , Cicchini said.

The Toronto Sun asked the Ontario Ministry of Labor about returning to work:

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Many people will be returning to their offices and other workplaces in the coming months. What is required of employers to make sure they feel safe from COVID-19?

Employers have an obligation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and its regulations to protect workers from workplace hazards, including infectious diseases.

All businesses and organizations allowed to be opened must have a COVID-19 workplace safety plan.

The safety plan should be based on public health and sector-specific requirements and guidance on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

Employers may also wish to contact workers before they return to work to share information on what to expect in the workplace and what precautions have been put in place to protect their health and safety.

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Can people refuse to go to work because they are concerned about COVID-19?

If a worker is concerned about their safety, the OHSA gives them the right to refuse work that they believe will likely endanger themselves or another worker.

The worker must immediately report the circumstances of the refusal to work to his employer or supervisor.

When a worker refuses to work, employers are required to investigate and try to resolve the issue internally.

If there is no resolution, the worker, employer or person on their behalf should notify the Ministry of Labor, Training and Skills Development and an inspector will follow up in consultation with the parties to the workplace.

How many work refusals have been made due to concerns about COVID-19?

There were 96 COVID-19-related work refusals between January 1 and July 15, 2021, and four met the criteria of subsection 43 (3) of the OHSA.

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