'Flying by the seat of our pants': Omicron disrupts York Region workplaces

Big decisions made 'on the fly' leave employers, employees scrambling

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 6, 2022
Kim Zarzour

Omicron’s wildfire-like spread has put employers and employees in a bind.

If you’re a manager, you’re struggling with how to maintain customer and staff safety -- and the bottom line.

If you’re a worker, you may be afraid of exposing yourself or vulnerable family members to the coronavirus.

You’re advised to stay home if exposed to a close contact or if you're feeling unwell, but your boss may not be on the same page.

And in some cases, you may risk losing your job.

That’s what happened at The Keg in Newmarket, recently beset with rumours of at least 10 employees testing positive for COVID-19.

Two workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they felt their jobs were in jeopardy when they told their manager they were worried for their safety.

On hearing that colleagues were reporting for work while waiting for test results, one worker told her manager she feared exposing an at-risk relative; he replied she’d be at no more at risk than shopping at a grocery store, and if she couldn’t find someone to fill her shift, she should consider this “her notice.”

Another employee, who also did not feel safe, acknowledged it was unrealistic for his manager to hold his job for him indefinitely until he did feel safe.

Restaurant manager Brandon Collins would not confirm the number of positive cases but said, “The Keg has never had a staff member who was working with symptoms or waiting on a result of any kind of test.”

“It’s a complicated situation,” a staff member told Yorkregion.com. “I don’t think there’s anything malicious going on here ... The guidelines are very vague.”

Kerry Bowman, professor of bioethics and global health at the University of Toronto, agreed, saying employers are facing a legal and ethical quandary.

“We’re flying by the seat of our pants right now ... I think we need more direction, and we need it quickly.”

Ontario Public Health expects employers to take precautions to protect the health of the workforce and help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

But just how far should those precautions go?

As the Omicron variant sweeps through the province, high absenteeism is anticipated in all sectors -- 20 to 30 per cent, according to Ontario’s chief medical officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore.

Employers whose workers cannot work remotely face tough choices.

Staff shortages caused some, such as the City of Vaughan, to temporarily cancel services.

Others hope the province’s new rules -- reducing self-isolation time for positive cases to five days -- will prevent disruptions.

It's a problem for businesses like restaurants and optometrists, where there's close contact with customers, said David Silverman, professor at the Rotman School of Business.

“I totally empathize. If you’re a restaurant, you’re going crazy pulling your hair out .... It's a balancing act. You want to find the amount of regulation to keep people safe, but not so much that it completely suffocates business.”

“I get it, they’re at the end of the end of their rope,” Bowman said. “They could be facing literally financial ruin or they can lose their business if they have to slow down or shut down one more time.”

In his regular online video addressing the pandemic, Jan. 3, York medical officer of health Dr. Barry Pakes acknowledged it's challenging to keep up with the pace of change.

New rules announced this week by the province -- restricting retail and personal serrvices capacity to 50 per cent and closing restaurants to in-person dining -- provide some clarity, but Bowman said there are still many unknowns.

“We still don’t have a clear picture as to what the true risks are with Omicron ... We’re really, really struggling. What I fear is this will further erode people’s faith in science, in which they just see science more of a crapshoot. The problem is big decisions have to be made on the fly without a huge amount of evidence because of the situation we’re in.

“From an ethical point of view, if a person does not feel safe or legitimately feels they're creating a safety risk for other people, they should not be forced to work ... but I can't guarantee that that's going to be reflected in law.”

In fact, labour lawyer Howard Levitt says the law is clear.

“The law deals with what’s objectively based ... Just general anxiety does not have to be legally accommodated in the workplace.”

The senior partner with Levitt Sheikh says an employer has liability to ensure the workplace is reasonably safe from any potential danger, with jail time and million-dollar fines at stake, but everybody has a different perception of what’s dangerous, especially during a pandemic.

“You can’t just refuse to return to work because of your personal subjective apprehension.”

What you can do, he said, is call in an occupational health and safety inspector with the Ministry of Labour. You don’t have to work until they do an inspection, and you can’t face retaliation.

The province, along with the federal program, provides workers access to up to 33 paid sick days to take time off work for reasons related to COVID-19, including symptoms, close contact with a positive case and testing and vaccination.

Employers cannot threaten, fire or penalize an employee because the employee is taking job-protected leave due to COVID-19 and doctors notes are not required, said Ciara Nardelli, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

Eventually, time should resolve this quagmire, Silverman said.

“We are learning more every day about this virus. We’ll soon find out if the boosters will reduce demand on the health care system. Science is coming up with new antiviral treatments that seem very effective ... and Canadians have been pretty good about following safety rules, compared to other countries, which has helped us weather the storm.

“The bottom line here is we should be thankful that we have such a strong safety net.”

You can learn more about job-protected leave here, and if you think you may have COVID-19 or were exposed to the virus, these provincial guidelines may help.