Top Questions Employers Are Asking

As the rates of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to climb in many Canadian jurisdictions, with workplace-related outbreaks involved from time to time, the future of the return to in-office work for many employers and workplaces depends on vaccination rates and the achievement of some version of herd immunity.   The following are the top questions that we are getting from employers as they continue to respond to the pandemic and look at vaccinations as a key step along the path to the new normal:

1.    Can employers make vaccination mandatory for employees?

Under occupational health and safety legislation, employers have a legal duty to take all reasonable precautions to protect the health and safety of their workers. However, absent express public health guidance or the implementation of legislation stating otherwise, this legal duty is unlikely to allow Canadian employers generally to force an employee to be vaccinated, particularly if the employee