City of Calgary employees have just less than a month to complete their COVID-19 vaccination and provide proof to their employer.
Those proof of vaccinations must be handed into the city by Nov. 1 under the city’s vaccination policy announced on Wednesday, applying to all city employees.
“The safety of city employees and our citizens will always be our top priority,” city manager David Duckworth said in a statement. “Vaccines are proven to be safe and effective to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
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Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 1, city workers who are not fully vaccinated will have to attend mandatory online education about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and take part in the city’s rapid testing program, including at-home testing kits provided by the city.
After Dec. 1, employees who still choose to not get both doses of a vaccine and submit their proof of vaccination will have to continue with rapid testing on their own time and their own dime, at authorized vendors.
Failing to complete the online education or testing program results in a leave of absence for a minimum of 30 days. Dismissal could come after the 30-day leave.
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Workers who are protected under the Alberta Human Rights Act and get an exemption from human resources will have to do rapid tests, with at-home testing kits given to them.
“This policy is intended to maximize vaccination rates among city employees,” Duckworth said.
“With COVID-19 cases on the rise at an alarming rate, this is the responsible thing to do as public servants.”
According to the Calgary Police Service, police officers also fall under the city’s vaccination policy but their discipline measures would fall under the Police Act.
At Sept. 28’s Calgary Police Commission meeting, CPS Chief Mark Neufeld said there were a “number of important considerations” for a police vaccination policy, including “context-specific considerations for our service.”
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One union of city employees said it had consulted multiple legal opinions before Wednesday’s announcement.
“It is almost universal from labor lawyers across the province — I have not seen one that has said that it’s not legal,” D’Arcy Lanovaz, president of CUPE Local 38, said. “They’re all in a position that this will survive any legal scrutiny as a policy.”
Lanovaz told Global News that his members’ opinions are mixed about the policy that has been softened since city council was originally told about it in September.
“At one point, I identified at least seven different categories of reasons on why people were uncomfortable or opposed to vaccination,” he said. “To be clear, we have members that are very much in favour of a full mandate and believe that it should have been brought in months ago.”
Lanovaz does not know what proportion of his members are fully vaccinated, but expects it to reflect similar Calgary-wide numbers.
But he says the union’s responsibility is to represent any members who may have valid reasons to not be vaccinated or who may have lapsed on testing.
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“We have to evaluate each case on the merits of the facts of that case,” the union president said.
Lanovaz said an employee deciding to leave the City of Calgary could be a one-way street.
“The reality is this — and I think it settles in — is that employers across the city and across the province are engaging in very similar policies.”