Coronavirus: All non-essential workplaces ordered to close in Ontario

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 25^th. 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/.

When it comes to sharing our thoughts on social media, many of us think that there is an unlimited right to say whatever we want. But a recent trend of “being fired for social media posts” has proven that what was said online can possibly come back to haunt our lives. In this article, a Canadian employee was fired from a job he held for six years because of an angry rant on Twitter about receiving a $6 bottle of barbecue sauce as a holiday gift. Personally, I do think that the employee in this case has been mistreated by the company and that the punishment he received was disproportional to the actual severity of his off-duty conduct. I feel like this incident raises the question of whether or not it is appropriate for employers to discipline their employees for their activities on social media, as this is often an issue that both parties struggle with in finding the optimal balance between leaving space for one’s private life and his or her employment responsibilities.  It also tests out the extent to which an employer can restrict an employee’s right to express personal beliefs and experiences.

Related law regulations in Canada have suggested that an employee’s off duty conduct ought not to be of concern to the employer unless there is a real and material connection between the off-duty conduct and the workplace. This means that an employer is only allowed to discipline an employee if his or her post on social media have negatively affected the employer’s business in a real and substantial way. However, this is a crucial part that was missing in the article which could be used to justify why the company decided to fire him on the spot. But to be honest, the guy was just complaining about the holiday gift he received; what kind of horrendous monetary and reputational harm can he cause to the company that justifies him being fired as punishment? This also brings out the problem with off-duty conduct in that there are too much room left for interpretation and usually the employees are left powerless in waiting for the employer’s final verdict on the situation. I think in order to mitigate this issue, it is ultimately dependent on the employer to have a comprehensive social media policy in place where it outlines the standard of conduct for both at-work and off-duty activities. It should also mention of the consequences that can result from a failure to adhere to the policy. This way, employees would have a clearer picture of how to use social media in a way that would not get themselves into trouble and the employer would not have to worry about seeing another angry tweet that could potentially put the company in a difficult position.

References:

Keeler, I. (2019, May 23). Disciplining Employees For Off-Duty Social Media Use: When Is It Appropriate? Retrieved from https://www.mondaq.com/canada/Employment-and-HR/808250/Disciplining-Employees-For-Off-Duty-Social-Media-Use-When-Is-It-Appropriate

Hi Everyone,

My name is Susan Bai and I’m currently a fourth year Commerce student. A memorable formative experience that I’ve had so far is working for a startup last summer summer in Shenzhen, China. This was my first time being employed abroad where I was under a completely different working culture and policy.

One area that I am especially interested in learning is the topic on Combatting Inequality & Unfairness, as the discussion of minimum wage has always been circulating around and I am very excited to dive deeper into the issue and learn more about it.