As confirmed cases of COVID-19 rise rapidly in Canada, many employers concerned with questions and uncertainties around how to better protect their employees from the virus while still making sure their businesses are running. Similarly, the Canadian government had already taken several measures in preventing the spread of the pandemic from escalating within the country. As of now, provincial governments like Ontario and Quebec have ordered the closure of all non-essential workplaces effective by March 25th. Many businesses, in Ontario, with the exception of essential workplace (e.g. hospitals and grocery stores), will be expected to close for two weeks while those in Quebec will remain shuttered for three weeks.
This announcement had a significant impact on workplaces facing closure as well as businesses that remain open amidst the pandemic. For businesses that are still operating during this time, there are major concerns surrounding the difficult decision of balancing their employees’ right to a safe work environment and fulfilling the demand of consumers. It also raises questions as to how the virus could affect employers, employees and the government moving forward. While many companies were able to introduce the option of working from home for their employees, other businesses still struggled to stay afloat. Many employees are left with no choice but to work at a greatly reduced hour in order to take care of children due to school closure or even left with no earnings if their employer decides to close business operations altogether. This is already beginning to raise a lot of problems as in the case of a government-mandated shutdown, employers are not required to pay their employees during the time of the closure. Employees would have to look for other options such as using entitled paid vacation time and federal employment insurance to cover for their lost compensation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have stated at a press conference on March 20 that more than 500,000 people across the country have applied for Employment Insurance (EI) or financial assistance compared to 27,000 this time last year due to the pandemic outbreak.
As a result, the Trudeau Government had officially passed a $82-billion emergency coronavirus support package in order to provide financial support to individuals and businesses amid the pandemic. In order to better protect employees under this special circumstance, the Ontario government also took action and passed Bill 186 yesterday, which allows employees to take an emergency leave due to an infectious disease emergency. The new legislation was implemented in order to prevent employees from losing their jobs if they are unable to work due to the pandemic.
I believe that this is a hard time for everyone involved in this situation. As a Queen’s work study student, I was notified recently that I will no longer be able to schedule further working hours as of March 20th. Fortunately, I was able to receive 25% of my work study entitlement to cover for the hours I am suppose to work from March to April. I imagine that many others who are facing reduced hours (and possibly losing their jobs) are not so lucky in this situation, especially if they have to cover additional living cost and take care of a family. For businesses that continue to operate and work during this time, it is strongly recommended that there are effective measures taken in place to ensure the safety of employees and customers on site. This could include adding more hand-sanitizing stations at various locations with high possibilities of human-to-human contact and monitoring closely on the health conditions of their employees and urging workers showing similar symptoms to COVID-19 to stay home. It is also important for grocery stores to speed up the operation system and making sure that necessities like toilet paper and non-perishable goods are delivered in a timely manner as well as limiting the number that a person can buy for each of the necessities. This could effectively avoid panic-buying and people hoarding over necessities. As for the government, it would be really helpful to see any further updates and information on the upcoming $82-billion emergency coronavirus support package and how it plans to help Canadian businesses and workers go through this difficult situation. For now, everyone please stay safe and I’m looking forward to hearing your feedback!
References:
Bowden, Olivia. “Employer Still Not Letting You Work from Home? How to Navigate Coronavirus Office Upheaval.” Global News, Global News, 23 Mar. 2020, globalnews.ca/news/6708762/working-from-home-coronavirus/.
Connolly, Amanda. “Trudeau’s $82B Coronavirus Support Package Gets Royal Assent, Officially Passes.” Global News, Global News, 25 Mar. 2020, globalnews.ca/news/6728936/coronavirus-canada-emergency-legislation/.
Dunham, Jackie. “What Employers Should Know during the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Coronavirus, CTV News, 24 Mar. 2020, http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/what-employers-should-know-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-1.4854525.
Westoll, Nick. “Coronavirus: All Non-Essential Workplaces Ordered to Close in Ontario.” Global News, Global News, 25 Mar. 2020, globalnews.ca/news/6717022/ontario-doug-ford-coronavirus-covid-19-march-23/.
Susan's EMPR 240 Blog 
Hi Susan!
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has been having on people across Canada. Your chosen article was interesting to read through because of the focus on Premier Doug Ford and the action that he has recently taken in ordering the immediate closure of all non-essential workplaces in Ontario.
I agree with your thoughts concerning the fact that these are difficult times for everyone, some more than others. Providing a personal connection to your writing has enhanced your post from a reader’s perspective, and has allowed you to include anecdotal information such as the impact of COVID-19 that you have felt as a work study student.
Do you think that closing non-essential business practices in an effort to minimize the spreading of the virus was the right decision? Do you think that all workplaces should effectively be shut down?
Looking forward to your insight! Great post.
Cameron
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Hi Cameron,
Thanks for the feedback! I think the closure of non-essential business practice is inevitable in this situation. Although it might seem a little dramatic as there are not a lot of confirmed case of COVID 19 in Ontario (compared to rest of the country), it is still better safe than sorry. Closing non-essential businesses is a drastic measure done by the government to practicing social distance and avoid the area of becoming the next hotbed for the virus. However, I don’t think that all workplace should effectively be shut down. Think about the hospital, for example; if hospitals are shut down during the pandemic then it is really hopeless. Even if the telecommunications providers are ordered to close because of the virus, our country would be in absolute chaos and I would have to live without wifi. So I do think that some industries would have to operate during this time in order for the country to still function properly.
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Hello Susan,
Very well done blog! As this situation is developing every day and new measures are constantly being rolled out, it is difficult to immediately start seeing the results many of these actions will have in the long run. You mention some of the concerns employers are facing amidst the closure of their businesses (particularly for small businesses) which directly creates challenges for employees.
I agree with your suggestions for essential stores to limit items such as toilet paper and water, and I believe the increase in stores putting into place these limits has helped reduced the panic-buying, as you stated.
What would be your take on Justin Trudeau’s recent announcement of the Government of Canada providing a 75% wage subsidy for small and medium businesses (gncc.ca) to encourage employers to hold on to their staff rather than laying them off (much in response to the increasing numbers of newly unemployed workers applying for employment insurance)? Do you think this new announcement will be enough of a support to help both employers and employees get through this difficult time?
All the best and stay safe,
Glafki
References:
Government of Canada Announces 75% Wage Subsidy
https://gncc.ca/government-of-canada-announces-75-wage-subsidy/
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Hi Glafki,
Great points raised here! I think the 75% wage subsidy is definitely a big improvement from the previous 10% subsidy that the government imposed. To be honest, I don’t know whether it will be enough to support small and medium business as the situation is changing constantly and we would need to wait on further details from the government on how the program would look like. However, I do see several concerns regarding this new announcement. First, I’m not really clear as to who would be eligible for the subsidy program. Are both part-time and full-time employees eligible for the program? If this is only for part-time employees, I could definitely see some business converting their full-time employees into part-time employees just to receive the subsidy; and that could be a huge blow to people feeling secure about their jobs. Another problem is that some businesses might end up hiring a lot of employees to take advantage of the subsidy and then fire them immediately after the 3-month duration has passed. But hopefully this is just me being the devil’s advocate and thinking pessimistically to critically evaluate the effectiveness of the subsidy program. Overall, I still believe that the benefits and support that the program could bring to employers and employees greatly outweighs the potential problems it could have during execution.
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Hi Susan,
Thank you for such a great post! It is still hard to believe that this is happening.
Once the list of essential services was sent out, I was reading feedback from people saying that they were upset and felt undervalued by the fact that their work was considered non-essential. Of course, we can understand where they are coming from because anyone would be offended if they were told that the work that they do every day is, well, non-essential. Unfortunately, so many people aren’t so lucky to get a percentage of their pay and are instead fired from their jobs and future jobs are cancelled (such as student summer jobs and internships) and now don’t have the funds to buy the essentials that the other services provide. I think that you are absolutely right that the appropriate measures must be taken to ensure that shelves are stocked in essential stores with the required goods (non-perishables and essentials such as toilet paper) and that limits should be imposed on customers to ensure that everyone is getting what they need during this time. How do you think limits on food might be able to be addressed in-store (such as canned goods)? I foresee an issue here where it would be hard to tell if someone is buying for their large family or are simply panic buying, and so upon check-out, it might be hard to enforce these policies. Hopefully, shelves can be restocked in an efficient manner to ensure that everyone is getting what they require, and unfortunately, fresh goods will most likely have to take the sidelines at this time, and the restocking of frozen and canned goods should be prioritized by the stores. Also, do you think that large discounts should be granted to customers to accommodate for these financially uncertain times? Looking forward to your response!
Stay safe!
-Jessica
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Hi Jessica,
Thank you for the response! You definitely had some good points here. I’ve never thought about the fact that people may feel that their work have been undervalued by the government labeling them as non-essential. So thanks for bringing it up! I think it really goes both ways. People who still have to work during the pandemic because their work is essential would be very stressed and concerned as their risking of exposure to the virus could be very high compared to people who could stay at home. People with non-essential work might feel offended and concerned during the closure as it seems that their jobs are valued less than other occupations. Unfortunately, this is really a lose-lose situation right now for all parties involved. As for posing limits on essential goods in stores, I totally understand your concern here. I feel like Kingston Metro, for example, is doing a fairly good job in exercising such policy right now. The current limit on toilet paper is 2 per person, which is pretty reasonable and could last for a while even taking into consideration that someone would be buying for a large family. As for food, even if there is a limit for non-perishable goods, I feel like that wouldn’t be a problem as you could always fill your shopping cart with other food products. The whole idea of limiting the amount of essential goods you can purchase is to make sure that resources are evenly distributed and that no one is having to live days without toilet paper while someone has years of toilet paper and food supplies sitting in this or her home. If people know that there is enough resources for everyone, panic buying and hoarding behaviors would decrease and there would be less stress put on the grocery stores.
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