Fewer City of Greater Sudbury employees are unvaccinated than previously reported, while others have recently pledged to receive the required jabs.
As of Tuesday, the city reported that 139 employees had been put on leave as a result of remaining unvaccinated against COVID-19 by the Nov. 15 deadline set out in a city policy.
By Thursday, Greater Sudbury general manager of corporate services Kevin Fowke said this number had dropped a bit as more people began disclosing their vaccination status.
It appears this week’s issuing of letters indicating that unvaccinated employees were being placed on unpaid leave struck a chord.
Pulling volunteer firefighters aside, he said 48 were initially put on leave, but that this number had since dropped to 32. The overall numbers remain fluid, but he’s hopeful that even more people comply.
“We want those people to continue to work with the city,” he said. “This is a policy that didn’t have any other purpose other than the health and safety of the people that are visiting and the people that are working in our facilities.”
There was no punitive intent, whatsoever, he said, clarifying that they’re working with employees to comply.
The city’s vaccine mandate was announced in September, at which time it was noted that all city staff would have to disclose their vaccination status by Sept. 30 and be fully vaccinated with an accepted vaccine by Nov. 15.
“There’s been lots of time,” Fowke said. “You could have two vaccinations and been fully through your 14-day wait period very easily by the 15th.”
Despite this, the city is allowing some wiggle room, with those staff members who have received one dose allowed to continue coming to work, where they will be required to undertake rapid antigen testing until 14 days after they receive their second dose.
“This was never about sending anyone home,” Fowke said. “We need all the people we have.”
Those who remain fully unvaccinated are on leave and allowed to use vacation and banked overtime if they have it. Otherwise, their leave is unpaid. If they want to maintain benefits during their unpaid leave, they will be sent a bill. The same applies to their pension, which is no longer being matched.
Although the city has granted these employees leave, Fowke said it’s unclear how long it might last. From a medical standpoint, it would take Public Health Sudbury to indicate that vaccines no longer have a positive impact in curbing the spread of COVID-19 and do not lessen the outcomes of those who get the virus.
Or, the employees could get vaccinated.
The city will also be reviewing how much they are spending on contracting and overtime, as well as how the remaining staff is handling their added workload.
If it reaches a point that granting these leaves is no longer tenable, Fowke said leaves will be revoked and vacancies will be filled on a full-time basis.
Meanwhile, filling these vacated positions in the interim remains an ongoing challenge, but one Fowke said the city has been preparing for since the vaccine mandate was first announced.
Some employees indicated early on that they had no intention of complying with the policy. Their jobs were posted by late October and early November.
Some short-term and contract employees are also being hired, while some staff members are working overtime.
“Sadly, it does mean for those who remain it does mean additional work that needs to get done,” Fowke said, adding that although people typically like receiving overtime at first, it’s not sustainable in the long term.
Despite these challenges, he said the business of the city is continuing. It helps, too, that November isn’t a popular time for vacation requests, so there’s a greater threshold for absences right now.
As for emergency responders such as the approximately 32 volunteer firefighters who have been put on leave, he said vacancies are spread out fairly well throughout the municipality so that no one location has been too adversely impacted.
“The numbers are getting to a point now that we’re not concerned about our response capacity,” Fowke said, adding that there is no safety concern.
Despite the vaccine mandate, people have been afforded the opportunity to submit medical and religious exemptions.
Although various applications have come forward, Fowke said that only one exemption, for religious reasons, has been approved. With only one exemption granted there’s a privacy concern about releasing further details, but Fowke did provide insight on what might qualify.
To receive a religious exemption, an employee would have to establish a clear nexus between their denial of a vaccine with the teaching of a faith community. Further, they’re required to submit the attestation of a senior representative of the faith who must point out this nexus and clarify the applicant’s strongly held belief.
This, Fowke said, constitutes the best parameters they’ve been able to draft through consultation with other employers in Ontario, legal advice they have received and Ontario Human Rights Commission considerations.
The granted exemption was one of 20 that were submitted for religious reasons.
In addition to the vaccine mandate among staff and elected officials, the City of Greater Sudbury has also established a vaccine mandate for visitors to certain facilities, which also took effect Nov. 15 and extends beyond the existing provincial mandate.
City bylaw officers have been charged with enforcing these mandates, and have taken an education-first approach thus far in the pandemic.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
