Province has no plans to extend vaccination deadline for employees, minister says

The minister of Social Development says the government has no plans to change the deadline for all provincial workers to get vaccinated or go on unpaid leave.

In early October, the government said long-term care workers, staff and volunteers in schools and licensed early learning and child-care centres, and other government employees have until Nov. 19 to get fully vaccinated or face unpaid leave. 

On Monday, Sharon Teare, president of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions, said long-term care workers need more time. 

About 300 of the union members are still not fully vaccinated, she said, and some need to wait 26 days before getting their second dose.

Teare said she fears there won't be enough workers to pick up the slack if partially vaccinated or unvaccinated workers have to stay home, and is calling for an extension of the vaccine deadline.

But on Tuesday, Social Development Minister Bruce Fitch said that won't be happening.

"We're encouraging people to get their vaccination, there is time," he said in an interview.

Michael Keating, the executive director of the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes, said there are a total of 7,000 long-term care workers.

In the interview on Tuesday, Fitch said about 93 per cent of long-term care and nursing home workers have had their first vaccine, and 85 to 86 per cent have had both doses as of Tuesday.

That would mean that more than 900 workers are still not fully vaccinated, with 30 days left until the deadline.

Fitch said he's counting on that number to change.

"I still have a lot of faith in the employees and what they do and ... encourage them to get their second dose or start their doses."

An employer has an obligation to have a safe workplace ... ​​​​​- Dan Leger, labour lawyer

He said the province is working on contingency plans in case some long-term care homes find themselves even more short-staffed than usual come Nov. 19.

He said this includes putting together response units similar to the ones deployed where there's an outbreak, and sending the units where staff is needed.

He said the province has also used the Red Cross in the past.

"I'm going to give people the benefit of the doubt for now," Fitch said. 

What does 'unpaid leave' mean?

Dan Leger, a lawyer and employment and labour specialist with Pink Larkin in Fredericton, said that although the deadline is Nov. 19, he's already seen people dismissed with cause and losing out on thousands of dollars in retirement allowance.

Those people were dismissed because they didn't want to get vaccinated, Leger said. 

"It's not anecdotal," he told Information Morning Saint John. "We've dealt with individuals who literally are willing to forgo, you know, a $60,000 retirement allowance. They [couldn't] care less whether they're terminated for cause, they're completely willing to ... give those things up."

He said for that group of people, financial motivations don't matter.

"They are entrenched in their views," he said.

Leger said people who miss the deadline will likely be on unpaid leave for 30 days. After that, if they don't get vaccinated, they could be fired with cause because they do not meet the employer safety standards. 

He said that in his experience, vaccination mandates are following the same trajectory as requirements for fire-retardant clothing and hard hats.

"An employer has an obligation to have a safe workplace," he said, "and in this instance, what they've determined safety means is vaccination."

So far, he said, these mandates have been upheld by the courts and labour arbitration.

"We've seen mandatory testing be challenged and ... successfully sustained," he said. "The trend line would indicate that they are valid."