On April 26, 2023, Arbitrator Robert Herman released his award in Lakeridge Health and CUPE, Local 6364. The award addressed two policy grievances and four individual grievances arising from the hospital’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. This is the first Ontario arbitration decision involving a hospital that has addressed the reasonableness of a vaccination policy which…
Insights
FTR Now
On March 1, 2022, all regions of Ontario entered the Roadmap Exit Step of the province’s Reopening Plan. Since that date, the government has been steadily reducing its COVID-19-related measures in anticipation of a full reopening of the province. As we previously reported, the Chief Medical Officer of Health announced on March 9, 2022 that…
HR HealthCheck
As we reported in our August 18, 2021 HR HealthCheck, the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health issued Directive #6 for COVID-19 Vaccination Policy in Health Settings (Directive) regarding the implementation of a mandatory vaccine policy for employees, staff, contractors, volunteers and students in certain health care settings. To support the implementation of the Directive,…
HR HealthCheck
On August 17, 2021, the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health issued Directive #6 COVID-19 Vaccine Policy in Health Care Settings (Directive) regarding the implementation of a mandatory vaccine policy for employees, staff, contractors, volunteers and students in certain health care settings. The Directive has been issued with a view to protecting vulnerable patients and staff…
FTR Now
On August 17, 2021, the Ontario government announced that it is making COVID-19 vaccination policies mandatory for certain high-risk settings, which include hospitals, schools and post-secondary institutions, among others. The government also announced: it is pausing the exit from Step 3 into the Roadmap Exit Step, in light of concerns regarding the transmission of COVID-19…
HR HealthCheck
On April 9, 2021, the Ontario government announced that it has made two orders under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA). The first order relates to the redeployment of certain health care professionals and other workers to hospitals. The second order relates to the transfer of patients to alternative sites. The government states…
Human Resources Legislative Update
On January 18, 2021, the Ontario government amended Ontario Regulation 74/20, Work Redeployment For Certain Health Service Providers (Regulation), made under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020. The amendments – which came into effect January 18, 2021 – are intended to help alleviate the increasing staffing and capacity issues faced by…
HR HealthCheck
In this HR HealthCheck, we discuss two recently released arbitral decisions involving retirement and long-term care home providers whose responses to the COVID-19 pandemic were challenged by their unions. The first case deals with a mandatory testing policy. The second case considers an employer’s right to cancel an employee’s leave of absence in order to…
FTR Now
On November 20, 2020, the Ontario government filed two regulations that allow point-of-care testing for COVID-19 to take place outside of laboratories and permit an expanded list of healthcare professionals to perform COVID-19 testing. The regulations came into effect on November 20.
HR HealthCheck
CMOH Issues New Directive #5 on PPE, And More
· 6 min readIn this edition of the HR Healthcheck, we discuss the newly revised Directive #5 issued by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) with respect to personal protective equipment use in public hospitals and long-term care homes. We also discuss a new regulation filed under the Personal Health Information Protection Act which expands administrative responsibilities under that statute. Finally, we mention Ontario’s recent announcement limiting visitors to long-term care homes in Toronto, Ottawa and Peel Region.
HR HealthCheck
In this FTR Now, we review the latest order (Order) made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) on April 24, 2020 regarding temporary measures focusing on the long-term care sector and the fight against COVID-19 (O. Reg. 174/20). We also discuss the new temporary pandemic payment introduced to support certain frontline workers in Ontario, announced by the Ontario government on April 25, 2020.
HR HealthCheck
On April 14, 2020, the Ontario government issued an Emergency Order (Order) pursuant to the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) which relates specifically to staffing issues in Ontario’s long-term care sector. The Order, O. Reg. 146/20, Limiting Work to a Single Long-Term Care Home, creates immediate obligations for both long-term care employers and employees working in long-term care homes. Once the requirements of the Order are met, the Order will effectively impose a “single-employer” rule for employees in this sector, preventing them from working for more than one Health Service Provider or retirement home until the Order is lifted.
FTR Now
On April 2, 2020, the Ontario government issued an order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act authorizing every retirement home and licensee (within the meaning of the Retirements Homes Act, 2010) to take all reasonable steps necessary to respond to, prevent and alleviate the outbreak of COVID-19 in a retirement home.
FTR Now
With a single Order, Ontario Health Service Providers have been given broad authority to take all reasonable steps necessary to staff as needed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Details of this Order, which came into effect the evening of Saturday, March 21, 2020, are set out below.
FTR Now
Today, the Ontario government announced that it will be introducing legislation to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) in light of COVID-19. In addition, the federal government announced, among other things, that the Canadian border will be closed to foreign nationals, with some exceptions.
FTR Now
As we learn more about the Novel Coronavirus (2019-vCoV or Coronavirus), employers will no doubt be contemplating the potential implications of this virus on their workplaces. We have set out below some of the emerging questions that employers may have right now and our answers and guidelines for how to address these issues.
FTR Now
COVID-19 and Workplace Preparedness
· 5 min readHealth officials in Canada have stated that the risk of contracting COVID-19 remains very low. That said, in recent weeks the virus has been top of mind for many, including employers. In this FTR Now, we discuss workplace pandemic planning and operational issues employers should be anticipating in the unlikely event of an outbreak.
HR HealthCheck
On February 25, 2020, the Ontario government tabled Bill 175, Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, 2020 (Bill 175). The legislation is intended to improve funding and access to home and community care for patients.
Human Resources Legislative Update
On August 26, 2019, the Ontario government released a guide to help employers, supervisors and workers in hospitals, long-term care homes and private home care facilities better understand their obligations relating to preventing workplace violence under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and the Health Care and Residential Facilities Regulation (O. Reg 67/93).
FTR Now
Ontario Announces Significant Health Care Reform
· 9 min readOn February 26, 2019 the Ontario government tabled Bill 74, The People’s Health Care Act, which includes the introduction of the Connecting Care Act, 2019. If passed, the legislation will allow for the creation of a central agency, Ontario Health, to oversee the health care system across the province, as well as the creation of integrated care delivery systems. In this FTR Now we provide an overview of the proposed legislation, with an emphasis on the labour and employment implications for health service providers.
FTR Now
Ontario is implementing a number of key reforms to the Local Health Integration Network and health services provider system – and the way frontline patient services are delivered across the province…
FTR Now
Ontario Budget 2011 – Highlights for Employers
· 11 min readINTRODUCTION On March 29, 2011, the Honourable Dwight Duncan, Ontario’s Minister of Finance, tabled the government’s 2011 Budget, “Turning the Corner to a Better Tomorrow”, before the Legislature and simultaneously introduced omnibus legislation amending a variety of statutes to implement some of these initiatives through Bill 173, the Better Tomorrow for Ontario Act (Budget Measures),…
FTR Quarterly
2008 Winter issue
· 1 min readFOCUS ON PENSION AND BENEFITS DC Plans – Enjoy the simplicity but manage the risks PROFILE Nos services en français Waterloo Calling LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS Workplace Harassment Preventing Workplace Violence Download PDF