Miskin Moment School of Law

While every new year brings changes and surprises, it’s safe to say that 2020 delivered more changes and surprises than anyone would have ever anticipated in their wildest dreams.

Covid’s impact was far reaching and extensive. It changed the world as we know it in countless ways, not the least of which included the workplace.

As vaccines were created and rolled out, they soon became an extremely hot button topic.

Can employers force employees to be vaccinated? Is it legal to mandate this?

Soon enough the conversation quickly boiled down to the following… do employers have legal right to terminate employees for not getting covid vaccinations?

The answer to this question is, yes. Employers can terminate employees for refusing to receive a vaccination.

What many people often fail to understand that is anyone can be terminated by their employer for any reason the employer chooses, or for no reason at all! As long as the termination is not due to illegal or discriminatory reasons such as age, colour, religion or other protected rights, your employer has all the latitude to fire you they need. Being terminated for refusing to get a covid vaccination it is not treated the same as a protected right.

At Miskin Law, we have fielded many calls about this from both employers and employees. Our response has been consistent. The team at Miskin Law is vaccinated, and we are not sympathetic to people who lose their jobs for not being vaccinated.

It also bears pointing out that if an employee is told they must get vaccinated or lose their job, they have effectively been “given notice”.  “Notice” or “payment in lieu of notice” is what your employer is legally required to provide you if you are being terminated without cause. So if your employer said to get vaccinated inside of two months, and you chose not to, that could suffice as your “notice”.

The amount of notice an individual requires varies. Some long term, high level and older employees may be entitled to more notice than others, and could be entitled to payment additional to the notice they are given about a vaccination requirement.

Have you suffered an injury? The team at Miskin Law can help. Miskin Law represents the residents of Peterborough, Oshawa, Ajax, and Whitby with personal injury claims to help get them the compensation they deserve. Call for a free consultation.