Privacy, human rights issues behind proof of vaccination policy still optional in many workplaces: prof

A health policy expert says it’s common for provinces with mandatory COVID-19 vaccination programs not to require companies to prescribe vaccines to their employees.

In Saskatchewan, employers outside the public service can voluntarily implement policies of proof of vaccination or negative test for employees.

The province has regulations in place to support any Saskatchewan employer who chooses to adopt such policies.

Lorian Hardcastle, associate professor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming Law School and Cumming School of Medicine, told CBC Radio The morning edition host Stefani Langenegger that she thinks the main reason we see provinces doing it is because of the labor law considerations that arise.

In the case of a unionized workforce, Hardcastle said the employer will need to discuss these policies with the union, according to what is in the collective agreement.

Hardcastle said there were also privacy and human rights issues to deal with.

“How are you going to welcome your workers who cannot get vaccinated?” she said. “Can you assign them to other tasks where they are not exposed to other customers?” “

She said employers also need to be mindful of how they collect and store health information.

“But both the issue of privacy and the issue of human rights are legal issues that can be managed,” she said. “These are not insurmountable obstacles to imposing mandatory vaccines in the workplace.”

Hardcastle said big banks, universities and the like are clearly receiving advice that you can demand your staff be vaccinated within the limits of the law.

Now that the big employers have done it, the smaller ones are following suit, she said.

She also said it is becoming increasingly common for small businesses to report that everyone who works there is fully immunized, especially in environments where employees are in close contact with customers.

“I think it actually becomes customer service, a way to entice customers,” she said. “I think this will help their business in terms of customers who are looking for that extra layer of protection.”