Many Canadians will recall the Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2003. Now, some 17 years later, we are faced with
yet another highly-contagious and potentially deadly respiratory virus – novel Coronavirus.
Having spread to more than 27 countries, the World Health Organization declared
it a global health emergency on January 30, 2020.   

The media has been littered with stories about how to
recognize the symptoms and warnings of potential risks.  The question remains – what can we do to
protect our workplaces?

Be Prepared

While the world struggles to grapple with this novel and deadly
emerging virus, employers can take the following steps to prepare and protect
their employees and workplaces and limit their own liability:

1. Ensuring
   company-wide best practices are up to date. Employers should maintain an up-to-date
   emergency contact list, provide hand sanitizer throughout the workplace,
   implement reasonable travel restrictions, and keep the lines of communication
   open about these practices.
2. Confirming
   what resources are available to assist employees who may have contracted Coronavirus.
   Employers should confirm whether their group STD coverage will cover
   employees who are home sick with Coronavirus, home looking after a family
   member with Coronavirus and/or employees who may not have Coronavirus but who
   are in quarantine.
3. Enacting
   temporary measures to protect employees.
   1. Because
      Coronavirus can be confused with the regular flu in some cases, in order to
      ensure that employees who may have Coronavirus do not return to the workplace
      and infect other employees, employers may want to consider insisting on a
      medical note from employees who have been home with the flu, confirming that
      they are safe to return.
   1. Employers
      may also consider implementing a temporary work from home policy.
   1. Employers
      may want to consider asking visitors to the workplace to confirm in advance
      whether they have had flu-like symptoms or may have had contact with
      individuals infected with Coronavirus.
4. Understanding
   statutory obligations and protections. These protections relate to various
   considerations in the face of an outbreak:
   1. Employers
      will want to know whether illness or quarantine-related absences are protected pursuant
      to applicable federal or provincial statutory leave provisions.
   1. Employers
      will also want to be aware of their applicable federal or provincial statutory leave
      obligations toward employees who need to care for ill family members.
   1. It
      will be important to understand employee health and safety rights pursuant to
      Occupational Health and Safety legislation, which may include the right of
      employees to refuse to attend work if concerned about their health.
   1. Employers
      may want to refresh their familiarity with human rights laws which, among other
      things, prevent discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or disability.
5. Having a
   plan.
   1. Employers
      may want to develop a plan for obtaining and implementing local health
      directives.
   1. Such
      a plan should also address who would be responsible for issuing communications
      from the employer and how the employer will communicate with its employees in
      the event of an emergency.
   1. In
      order to protect the work premises, the plan should include steps to ensure that
      the facility is secure in the event of a reduced staff or unanticipated shut
      down.

If you would like further information about the
recommendations provided, the legislative protections in place in your region
or practical steps to protect your workplace in the face of workplace health
concerns, please contact members of our Employment and Labour Group.