Employees at the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) were informed recently that the municipality is “in the process of assessing the need” for a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy for all staff members, though a decision hasn’t been made yet.
“There are currently measures in place to prevent communicable disease spread in the workplace and in our public buildings that are mandated by a Communicable Disease Plan, which we are legally required by WorkSafe BC to have in place and follow,” an RMOW spokesperson said in an email.
The RMOW has not asked for or surveyed its 518 employees in regards to their vaccination status, the spokesperson said.
A decision is expected in the coming weeks.
Other B.C. municipalities have mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for employees since the provincial government enacted its BC Vaccine Card last month, including Vancouver, Surrey, Creston, and the Capital Regional District.
According to CBC News, the BC Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) said it had received 585 complaints related to provincial mask and vaccine mandates as of late September, with more than 1,400 complaints waiting to be processed (the BCHRT did not respond to a request for information before Pique’s deadline).
B.C.’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner issued a policy guidance document about vaccine mandates in July (and updated it on Oct. 14), stating that its position on the provincial vaccine card program is that it “is justified from a human rights perspective and will result in increased protection for those among us who are most vulnerable to the virus.”
Ultimately, the commissioner’s position is that vaccination status policies can be implemented “in limited circumstances—but only if other less intrusive means of preventing COVID-19 transmission are inadequate for the setting, and if due consideration is given to the human rights of everyone involved.”
Find the full document at bchumanrights.ca/wp-content/uploads/COVID-19-vaccine-guidance-Oct.-2021-update.pdf.
