PIPSC filed a policy grievance (in English) on Friday, May 13, 2022 against the Mandatory Vaccination Policy for all members of the Core Public Administration including the Royal Mounted Police for all members who remain on Leave Without Pay (LWOP) beyond April 6, 2022. As for all other existing employer mandatory vaccination policies that require review, we are monitoring the timelines. Policy grievances will be filed in due course.
The Treasury Board has failed to review the Policy for Mandatory Vaccination within the 6-month period as required by the policy. Together with other unions, we have called for a review given the changed circumstances surrounding the pandemic.
The employer’s failure to review the policy in the face of loosening COVID-19 restrictions is a flagrant abuse of management authority in the workplace. The Treasury Board has broken their commitment to review and update the policy.
Continuing to keep (or place) unvaccinated employees on LWOP beyond April 6, 2022 is an unjustified and excessive measure in light of the current context.
It’s important to remember that PIPSC continues to support vaccination and the health and safety objective of the policy overall. However, given the shifting landscape of the pandemic, we believe the employer’s policy is now unreasonable.
As it is generally the case when filing a Policy grievance, we recommend that members also file an individual grievance against their LWOP beyond April 6, 2022. These individual grievances will act as a placeholder for members to seek individual redress while we advance the policy grievance. Individual grievances will be placed in abeyance pending the outcome of the Policy grievance. Once the Policy grievance outcome is known, we can address any pending individual grievances as appropriate. Using the grievance template we have created will facilitate the filing and handling of your grievance. Should you wish to file a grievance, please complete Section 1 of the template and contact an Employment Relations Officer.
Note that if we are already assisting you with an ongoing grievance related to the Policy (accommodation request or other), it is not affected by the Policy grievance. Even if you have an ongoing grievance, we recommend filing a new individual grievance as described above to contest your continued LWOP beyond April 6, 2022, in the event that your initial grievance was not successful.
For those members working in separate employers and agencies that have identical policies, we are working on policy grievances and accompanying individual grievance templates that will correspond to each employer’s expected review date. More info will be made available as these are filed.
Please also review our Mandatory Vaccination FAQs as well as the Treasury Board’s Policy for Mandatory Vaccination.
Please contact an Employment Relations Officer should you have further questions.