York Region closes offices to public, permits some staff to work from home
"I fully appreciate there is a heightened level of nervousness and anxiety amongst staff," said York Region's director of corporate communications.
Newmarkettoday.ca
March 20, 2020
Debora Kelly
As of this morning, the Region of York is closing its offices to the public and allowing some employees to work from home
"I fully appreciate there is a heightened level of nervousness and anxiety amongst staff," said Patrick Casey, York Region's director of corporate communications.
He said non-essential staff who can perform work from home will no longer be required to report to the office, and staff is being redeployed into areas where assistance is needed in managing growing workloads as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until today, the region's more than 4,500 full-time, part-time and contract employees who were not in self-isolation were required to attend work.
York Region's main administrative centre is at 17250 Yonge St. in Newmarket, and it also operates in locations across the region, including York Region Paramedic Services headquarters in East Gwillimbury, York Region Community and Health Services in Richmond Hill, and York Region Transit headquarters in Richmond Hill.
"At a time when our town has declared a state of emergency, I think it's not right that they waited so long and that regional employees were prevented from protecting themselves and each other," said Newmarket resident Lisa Macey, who was concerned yesterday to learn the regional offices remained open.
"To me, it was so irresponsible to jeopardize people's health," said Macey, who has been working from home herself since Seneca College suspended in-person classes March 14.
"Administrative work can be done at home just as easily and they are endangering staff who have underlying health conditions or who live with elderly or immune-suppressed family members," she added.
"As public servants, we provide critical services to our 1.2 million residents, and these include services essential to our public such as paramedic services, transit, social services and supports for many residents, some who are our most vulnerable," Casey said.
In the meantime, for employees still required to attend their workplaces, York Region will continue to take the following actions:
- Facilitate work from home options for people in self-isolation and continued to actively screen and promote self-monitoring and self-isolation protocols, as criteria for the protocols are adjusted by our federal and provincial partners;
- Encourage personal hygiene practices and social distancing buffers to do what we can to break the chain of transmission;
- Cancel participation in conferences and large staff gatherings, both internally and externally;
- Increase cleaning and disinfection practices at regional facilities, including adding additional hand sanitizer stations
- Post cautionary signage at all regional facilities;
- Update intranet and york.ca/covid19 with current information and links to external agency information.
"As the situation in our communities and workplaces changes, you can be assured we will take added measures to ensure we are all protected from risks and best able to support our communities in this time of need," Casey added.
The Town of Newmarket closed its offices at 395 Mulock Dr., the Robert N. Shelton Operations Centre at 1275 Maple Hill Court and all Central York Fire Service Offices to the public as of 5 p.m. Monday, March 16.
