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Can you refuse to work alongside an unvaccinated colleague in B.C.?


Can British Columbians refuse to work alongside a colleague who hasn’t been vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19?

It’s a query some staff are asking amid sluggish new vaccination numbers and persistently excessive every day new case numbers, pushed primarily by unimmunized British Columbians.

It’s additionally a query with out a clear reply from both officers or consultants within the discipline.

Learn extra:
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“It is a vital employee security challenge, however for the technical recommendation on how that performs out inside a person office, I might refer folks to WorkSafeBC,” provincial well being officer Dr. Bonnie Henry mentioned when quizzed on the prospect.

However when World Information contacted WorkSafeBC, the group declined an interview request and referred the matter to B.C.’s labour minister.

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Labour Minister Harry Bains, in flip, referred the difficulty again to WorkSafeBC.


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“The state of affairs could be totally different from one (employer) to a different. So that they (WorkSafeBC) could be coming in, if the employee and the employer is unable to resolve the state of affairs,” he mentioned.

So what do consultants within the discipline of employment regulation assume?

World Information spoke with two legal professionals who deal with office points, who agreed solely that there was a scarcity of clear route from authorities.

“I believe the most effective guess we’ve got proper now’s that the reply goes to be no, you possibly can’t outright refuse to work with somebody as a result of they’re unvaccinated,” Jenson Leung, an affiliate with Samfiru Tumarkin informed World Information.

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“However what employers are obligated to do is make certain they’re taking cheap security precautions, so masking, bodily distancing, hand cleansing, all the same old good practices that we’ve been doing for the final two years now.”

Leung mentioned employers might have to have a look at different measures comparable to distant work, shift adjustments or shifting employees members workplaces with a view to accommodate staff’ considerations about their colleagues vaccination standing.

Paul McLean, a lawyer with Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark noticed it one other means.


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“I might say sure — the problem is for those who’re within the office as a vaccinated individual, and you’ve got somebody in that office who’s unvaccinated, there’s a a lot better threat of an infection to you as a vaccinated individual,” he mentioned.

Beneath B.C.’s Employees Compensation Act, being compelled to work in shut proximity to an unvaccinated colleague may give somebody grounds to refuse unsafe work, he mentioned.

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“With what we all know now concerning the Delta variant (masks and distancing alone) may not be enough,” he mentioned.

“It may need been enough 12 months in the past, however the science adjustments and I believe employers have the duty to vary together with it.”

Selections by employers might finally render the query moot.

B.C. has already introduced vaccine mandates for health-care staff and staff within the public service, whereas the federal authorities introduced new mandates for federal public staff and staff within the transportation sector on Wednesday.

Firms within the non-public sector might comply with that lead.

As of Wednesday, 88.4 per cent of eligible British Columbians had acquired a minimum of one dose of vaccine, whereas 81.9 per cent had acquired two doses.





© 2021 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.





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