Paid time off for a COVID-19 vaccination? Depends on the workplace
Simran Prihar talks to the CBC about precarious employees and COVID-19 vaccination efforts
CBC canvased large businesses in a range of industries to determine whether employers were giving employees paid time off to get vaccinated. It noted that the three paid sick days recently legislated by the province can be used to be vaccinated, but that not all workers are covered by those provisions, including temporary foreign workers and temporary help agency employee
Simran Prihar, labour and employment lawyer for Goldblatt Partners, worries precarious employees won’t be given time off, particularly those in non-unionized work environments or who are part time.
“It’s just an individual going to their manager to ask for the time off and being denied,” she said. “There are not avenues that will provide that employee an easy way to have paid time off to do this absent an employer having the good will and willingness to provide that.”