City workers, who are still not in compliance with Hamilton’s COVID-19 employee vaccination policy, have been granted a four-month reprieve.
Council voted 11-3 on Wednesday to change the termination date for unvaccinated workers, from June 1, 2022 to October 1, 2022.
Ward 7 Coun. Esther Pauls pushed for the delay saying “this is not about garbage pickup, it’s not about roads, it’s not about any of that, it’s about people’s lives.”
Lora Fontana, the city’s head of human resources, says the number of workers not in compliance with vaccination requirements has dropped to 322, down from 440 last week.
That number was over 500 when council amended the employee vaccination policy in January, to include termination of employment for employees who fail to disclose their status as fully vaccinated by May 31, 2022.
She adds that delaying any terminations will give the city a better idea of the potential legal costs, noting “there is such an array of factors that need to be considered.”
“Some, an arbitrator may reinstate them”, says Fontana, “an arbitrator may uphold the termination, an arbitrator may reinstate them with back pay.”
She also confirms that unions, representing 11 different employee groups, have filed grievances against the policy.