(LifeSiteNews) — An arbitrator has overturned Canada Post’s mandatory vaccination policy for remote workers.
In a May 6 ruling, arbitrator Michelle Flaherty ruled in favor of the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE), striking down Canada Post’s vaccine mandate for remote workers.
“Canada Post has not established a compelling workplace health and safety interest in mandating vaccines for employees who worked exclusively remotely, where there was no reasonable prospect that in-person work would be required of them,” she wrote.
Similar to many federally operated corporations, Canada Post implemented their COVID vaccine mandate in October 2021. Under the policy, employees were required to provide proof that they received two shots of the experimental vaccine or risk being put on unpaid leave.
Of Canada Post’s 1,500 employees, 37 declined to show proof of vaccination and were put on unpaid leave.
In her ruling, Flaherty pointed out that unvaccinated remote workers would have no risk of spreading COVID to their co-workers as they worked entirely remotely.
“These employees had no reasonable prospect of coming into physical contact with the workplace and I cannot conclude that the primary purpose of the (mandatory vaccination practice) was advanced by requiring their vaccination,” she added.
Flaherty dismissed Canada Post’s claim that it mandated the shots to ensure of safety of its remote workers.
“In essence, the employer’s position is that it can prescribe activities, including medical procedures like vaccination, simply because this could increase the likelihood an employee will be available to work,” she wrote.
“To the extent that any such interest exists, this is outweighed by the important interests at stake for the employees in question, including their privacy and their financial and economic interest in ongoing paid employment.”
However, Flaherty dismissed the UPCE’s argument that Canada Post should have allowed unvaccinated workers to work from home where possible instead of placing them on unpaid leave.
“The employer is not required to accommodate unvaccinated employees so they can work remotely,” she argued. “There is no requirement to adjust an unvaccinated employee’s tasks or to assign parts of their work to other employees. It was not reasonable to expect the employer to do so.”