Managers will decide on religious vaccine exemptions for federal public servants

The federal government is advising managers they can use their own discretion when determining whether an employee is exempt from getting the COVID-19 vaccine because of their religious beliefs, Radio-Canada has learned.

The guidance comes in a government directive for executives, obtained by Radio-Canada, and outlines how managers should deal with anemployeethat seeksan exemption.

"The validity of the belief itself must not be challenged by the manager; They must determine only if the belief is sincerely held by the employee," according to adocument from the Treasury Board Secretariat.

Labour lawyer Marc Boudreau said the flexibility granted in this policy raises questions about how firmly the government plans to apply the rules.

Boudreau said the guidelinesclearly tell managers not to contest any demands they consider sincere.

"I doubt that the government has established those rules in order to defend them in front of the Supreme Court," he said.

WATCH |Labour lawyer Marc Boudreauon concerns of fraudulent claims:

Vaccination exemption policy for federal employees more political than legal, labour lawyer says

3 years ago

Duration 1:06

Labour lawyer Marc Boudreau says the wording of the policy leaves the process open to fraudulent exemption claims. The policy advises managers to use their own discretion when determining whether an employee is exempt from vaccination due to religious beliefs.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on the promise of imposing a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for all federal public servants and delivered on that promise earlier this month.

• Federal public servants, RCMP and air and rail travellers must be vaccinated by month's end, Trudeau says
• Group of federal employees launches fight against vaccine mandate

In a statement, a spokesperson with the Treasury Board Secretariat said about 20,000 federal public servants in the Core Public Administration (CPR) had yet to provide their vaccination status ahead of the deadline on Friday.

Those who do not provide their status or choose not to be vaccinated will be placed on unpaid leave as of Nov. 15.

Employees who make false declarations will face disciplinary consequences that could include dismissal.

Guidelines raise questions

Chantal Beaupr, a labour lawyer who also teaches at the University of Ottawa, said the guidelines for federal government managers are similar to those circulating in the private sector.

She said this also makes life difficult for lawyers because few arbitrators or administrative tribunals have rendered decisions that can help with the interpretation of various vaccination policies.

"If I was a supervisor receiving ... this statement and these directives, I would have a lot of questions that I would be asking myself. I would have a lot of questions as to how do I really assess," she said.

WATCH |Labour lawyer Chantal Beaupr on questions raised:

Challenges to vaccination exemption policies likely to shape workplaces in the future, lawyer says

3 years ago

Duration 1:11

Chantal Beaupr, labour lawyer and professor at the University of Ottawa, says the language in the federal governments vaccination exemption policy is likely to spark questions and challenges from both managers and employees.

That grey area worriesStphane Aubry, vice-president ofthe Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), a union that represents more than 60,000 federal employees.

"We expect that this will lead to a situation where there hasbeen some discrimination and members may come to us saying that, 'Well, my manager refused' ... and we would see the grey zone that the managerwas put in," said Aubry.

In a statement, Chris Aylward, national presidentof the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) representing just less than 200,000 workers said it too will stand up for its members and represent them on a case-by-case basisin situations where the policy is unreasonably enforced.

The next weekly update on public service vaccination data is expected on Nov. 3.