Employer Obligations for Returning to Work During COVID-19

This FAQ answers some of the most common questions about employer obligations and the duty to accommodate workers in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. Please note that although the law on accommodations and COVID-19 has not been settled by courts and tribunals, accommodation obligations typically arise where an individual and/or a family member is immunocompromised or immunosuppressed. Alternately, there may be a requirement to provide care to a sick family member. As such, we expect that the employer would be held to the obligations set out below. What if I believe my workplace is unsafe due to COVID-19? Employees who believe their employer has not implemented safety measures to make their workspace safe or meet the safety guidelines set out by the government have the right to refuse unsafe work. Read more about COVID-19 and the right to refuse unsafe work: https://cupe.ca/covid-19-and-right-refuse-unsafe-work. What if I am immunocompromised or immunosuppressed? An employer has a legal duty to accommodate employees with an … Read more…

Louise Riley: Proper staffing ratios in long-term care make a world of difference

The following letter to the editor by Louise Riley, CUPE NS Long Term Care Coordinating Committee chairperson, was published in the Chronicle Herald on June 5, 2020.  In January, just two months before the COVID-19 lockdown, staff at a long-term-care home in New Glasgow volunteered for unpaid shifts in order to take part in a pilot study. The “work-in” was organized by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the employer, Glen Haven Manor, was an enthusiastic supporter. Over a 24-hour period, continuing care assistants (CCAs) went to work on their own time in order to raise the resident-staff ratio on one of the units to 4.1 hours of care per resident per day. The current resident-staff ratio in Nova Scotia is 2.45 hours of care, a ratio that has not budged in 20 years, even though the age and frailty of seniors being admitted to care homes has changed … Read more…

CUPE Nova Scotia Anti-Racism Statement

We’ve all witnessed the response to the murder of George Floyd, both in the United States and Canada. This is not the first time we’ve seen the police exercise their authority to kill an unarmed black man. We’ve seen it far too often. It must stop! There are those among us who believe this is a problem in the United States only. It isn’t. Canada has a long history of racism, including anti-black racism. In Nova Scotia the police have used their power to racially profile members of the black community and to make violent arrests of black men, women and children. A December 2019 video shows an unarmed black man being tasered by four police officers. Officers later claimed he assaulted one of them. In Bedford, a 15-year-old boy sustained injuries while being arrested after security at the Bedford Place Mall called to have him removed. Santina Rao was … Read more…