April 26, 2021
A brief note on paid sick leave: You are probably aware that the government of Ontario has issued various statements about a review of paid sick leave regulations and that an announcement will be made shortly. I will keep you up to date with any information I receive and what impact it may have on you and your business.
In the meantime, if you have a workplace in the Peel or Toronto Public Health Regions, you should be aware of the new orders that have been released by the public health officers in those regions
Public health offices are mandated to “superintend, provide or ensure…health protection and disease and injury prevention” under the Health Protection and Promotion Act and last week the Peel and Toronto offices issued notification that physical workplaces reporting five or more COVID-19 cases within a period of 14 calendar days may be ordered to close their physical workplaces for at least 10 days.
NOTE: You may have seen news reports that highlight the application of these orders to workplaces with five or more cases of COVID-19, but it is important to be aware that there are also obligations for workplaces reporting fewer than five cases of COVID-19.
The Toronto order is slightly broader than the Peel Region order because it includes both “confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19,” while the Peel Region order refers only to “laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases”. There is no definition of “Probable” in the Toronto order.
Neither of these orders applies to workers operating remotely, as the purpose and intent is to prevent in-person transmission at physical workplaces. This is consistent with the provincial Stay-at-Home Order that requires Ontario employers to ensure that all employees work remotely unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site in the workplace.
These Toronto and Peel Region orders went into effect on Friday, April 23 and apply to most physical workplaces in the regions, with a limited number of exceptions, noted below.
Peel Region
The Regional Municipality of Peel includes Mississauga, Brampton, and the Town of Caledon. The order issued on April 20 imposes a number of duties on “owners or occupiers of a workplace premises or persons responsible for a business or organization.”
The rules under the order went into effect on Friday, April 23, at 12:01 a.m and state that physical workplaces may be ordered to temporarily close by Peel Public Health for at least 10 days where:
- the workplace premises has had five or more laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19;
- the cases have occurred within the previous 14-calendar-day period,
And where:
- the cases could reasonably have acquired their infection in the workplaces premises; or
- where no obvious source of infection has been identified outside of the workplace premises.
Where these conditions are met, Peel Public Health has authority to issue a notice directing the workplace to close all or parts of the physical workplace premises and also reserves the right to require that workplaces take additional interventions as are necessary in the circumstances.
Where a workplace receives such notice, the owners or occupiers of the workplace premises, or persons responsible for the organization, must communicate certain instructions to all workers impacted by the closure. These instructions are specifically set out in the order:
- COVID-19-positive workers must self-isolate per the region’s February 24 order (view »» here)
- Non-symptomatic workers in a workplace ordered to close must self-isolate for 10 calendar days, or for as long as the workplace is ordered to close
- Workers of a closed workplace cannot work at another workplace during isolation
- Symptomatic workers should be tested as soon as possible from symptoms
- Workers who test positive for COVID-19 should notify their employers immediately
- Non-symptomatic workers should be encouraged to be tested regardless
Instructions must be posted at the entrance of the premises and be visible to the public.
Where a physical workplace is ordered to close, the order does allow “access” to the workplace under limited circumstances, notably for accessing goods or supplies or dealing with “critical matters” that cannot be attended to remotely.
Exemptions
Certain workplaces are specifically exempt from the order:
- Schools/childcare
- Pharmacies
- Healthcare facilities, including vaccination clinics
- Shelters
- First responder emergency services such as fire, paramedics, police and their communication services
- Critical infrastructure such as water/wastewater treatment facilities, utilities, telecommunications and IT, transportation, and energy
- Government services
- Services required to maintain the health of animals
- Other workplace premises exempted from closure by Peel Public Health
Obligations for workplaces with fewer than five cases
Physical workplaces that report two or more cases of COVID-19 within a 14 calendar-day period must take the following measures:
- Prepare a list of close contacts of these persons and provide the list to Peel Public Health, when requested;
- Maintain a log of all persons who attend on the workplace premises and make this log available if requested by Peel Public Health for contact tracing purposes;
- Notify the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board or other relevant governmental authorities;
- Provide contact details of the most senior decision-maker at the workplace premises;
- Be readily available for contact by Peel Public Health to implement any additional measures immediately as required by Peel Public Health; and,
- Cooperate with infection prevention and control personnel from Peel Public Health.
The full Order can be viewed or downloaded from this link on the the Peel Region website:
https://peelregion.ca/coronavirus/_media/class-order-section-22.pdf
Toronto Public Health Region
Similar to the Peel Region, the City of Toronto Health Unit issued a workplace order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act that went into effect Friday, April 23, at 12:01 a.m.
With limited exceptions, the order applies to all persons who own, operate, or occupy a workplace in Toronto, as well as workers in those workplaces. As in Peel Region, “workplace” means a physical location, not work done remotely.
The Toronto Public Health has the authority to require workplaces to close for at least 10 calendar days where:
- the workplace has five or more confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19; and
- the cases have occurred within a 14-calendar-day period.
Where these conditions are met Toronto Public Health may, in its judgment, issue a notice requiring all or parts of the workplace to close for at least 10 days. Toronto Public Health decides when a closure is needed.
Owners, operators, or occupiers must post signage, in a form provided by Toronto Public Health, at all entrances where the workplace is ordered to fully close, indicating the workplace is closed.
Nothing in the order precludes workplaces from operating remotely and the following workplaces may be exempt:
- first responder emergency services such as fire, paramedics, police and their communication services
- shelters
- critical infrastructure such as water/wastewater treatment facilities, utilities, telecommunications and IT, transportation, and energy
- public-facing or other critical government services
- services required to maintain the health of animals
- other workplaces as determined by Toronto Public Health for reasons of health, safety or otherwise where in the public interest
Obligations for workplaces with fewer than five cases
Owners, operators, or occupiers must notify Toronto Public Health via the online COVID-19 Workplace Reporting Tool as soon as they become aware of:
- two or more individuals who test positive for COVID-19 within a 14-calendar-day period; and
- five or more individuals who test positive for COVID-19 within a 14-calendar-day period.
The full Order can be viewed or downloaded from this link on the the City of Toronto website:
https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/9710-21-04-22-Workplace-class-order-closures.pdf