Hopes government employees who declined the COVID-19 vaccination and were placed on unpaid leave by the Liberals in October would their get back-pay have been thwarted..Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in no uncertain terms unvaccinated employees whose salary cheques were halted will "absolutely not" get back-pay..The minister's remarks came Wednesday as he exited a caucus meeting Wednesday and was asked if his government would pay out public servants' missing wages of those who declined the required two COVID-19 shots..On Tuesday, the Liberal government announced it was removing the vaccine requirement for federal public servants and employees in federally regulated industries..The requirement forced government employees not considered “fully vaccinated” to be put on unpaid leave until June 20..According to numbers shared by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) with public sector unions in April, by the end of March, at least 1,828 workers had been placed on unpaid leave as a direct result of the federal vaccination mandate..According to the National Post, the three largest federal public sector unions — Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) and Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) — all submitted grievances against the employer’s vaccine mandate for federal workers..The unions are fighting for the government to be compelled to pay all wages that were denied to government employees who went unpaid because of the mandate, either since the beginning of the policy or since April 6..April 6 was the date unions say was the deadline for the mandatory six-month review of the policy, as written in the government’s own regulation..The Liberal government also said it intended to shield employers across Canada from litigation by aggrieved employees who believe their employment and human rights were violated by the vaccine mandates and who lost their income as a result..When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled his election platform in September, he made a promise to employers: “We’ll protect businesses that mandate vaccinations from unjustified lawsuits.”.Employment lawyers said lawsuits from fired unvaccinated workers are starting to increase at an unprecedented rate and that the federal government’s protections are nowhere to be seen..“We are seeing a huge amount of cases, claims, lawsuits involving terminations resulting from an individual’s vaccine status,” said Lior Samfiru, a Toronto employment lawyer and co-founder of Samfiru Tumarkin LLP speaking to Global News..“In fact, in my 20 years of practising law, I have not seen so many cases dealing with the same issue over such a short period of time.”.The heads of all three unions brushed off LeBlanc’s comments Wednesday..“With all due respect to Minister LeBlanc, our policy grievances on behalf of workers on leave without pay are a legal issue, not a political one, so we’ll leave the rhetoric to the lawyers on this one,” PSAC President Chris Aylward said to the National Post..“CAPE has filed several individual grievances for employees put on leave without pay due to the mandatory vaccination mandate, and we will seek reimbursement of their lost salary, wherever possible,” CAPE President Greg Phillips said..“We are disappointed to hear of minister’s Leblanc comment, nonetheless we will pursue this matter before the Federal Public Section Labour Relations and Employment Board to obtain a decision.”
Hopes government employees who declined the COVID-19 vaccination and were placed on unpaid leave by the Liberals in October would their get back-pay have been thwarted..Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in no uncertain terms unvaccinated employees whose salary cheques were halted will "absolutely not" get back-pay..The minister's remarks came Wednesday as he exited a caucus meeting Wednesday and was asked if his government would pay out public servants' missing wages of those who declined the required two COVID-19 shots..On Tuesday, the Liberal government announced it was removing the vaccine requirement for federal public servants and employees in federally regulated industries..The requirement forced government employees not considered “fully vaccinated” to be put on unpaid leave until June 20..According to numbers shared by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) with public sector unions in April, by the end of March, at least 1,828 workers had been placed on unpaid leave as a direct result of the federal vaccination mandate..According to the National Post, the three largest federal public sector unions — Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) and Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) — all submitted grievances against the employer’s vaccine mandate for federal workers..The unions are fighting for the government to be compelled to pay all wages that were denied to government employees who went unpaid because of the mandate, either since the beginning of the policy or since April 6..April 6 was the date unions say was the deadline for the mandatory six-month review of the policy, as written in the government’s own regulation..The Liberal government also said it intended to shield employers across Canada from litigation by aggrieved employees who believe their employment and human rights were violated by the vaccine mandates and who lost their income as a result..When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled his election platform in September, he made a promise to employers: “We’ll protect businesses that mandate vaccinations from unjustified lawsuits.”.Employment lawyers said lawsuits from fired unvaccinated workers are starting to increase at an unprecedented rate and that the federal government’s protections are nowhere to be seen..“We are seeing a huge amount of cases, claims, lawsuits involving terminations resulting from an individual’s vaccine status,” said Lior Samfiru, a Toronto employment lawyer and co-founder of Samfiru Tumarkin LLP speaking to Global News..“In fact, in my 20 years of practising law, I have not seen so many cases dealing with the same issue over such a short period of time.”.The heads of all three unions brushed off LeBlanc’s comments Wednesday..“With all due respect to Minister LeBlanc, our policy grievances on behalf of workers on leave without pay are a legal issue, not a political one, so we’ll leave the rhetoric to the lawyers on this one,” PSAC President Chris Aylward said to the National Post..“CAPE has filed several individual grievances for employees put on leave without pay due to the mandatory vaccination mandate, and we will seek reimbursement of their lost salary, wherever possible,” CAPE President Greg Phillips said..“We are disappointed to hear of minister’s Leblanc comment, nonetheless we will pursue this matter before the Federal Public Section Labour Relations and Employment Board to obtain a decision.”
