On Friday, September 25th, the Ontario government announced that, effective September 26th all Ontario businesses must comply with any advice, recommendations and instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (the “Chief Medical Officer”) on screening for COVID-19. As such, workplaces must now screen all workers and essential visitors entering the work environment upon arrival for COVID-19.
The current recommendations of the Chief Medical Officer and the required screening questions can be found here. Employers should carefully read these recommendations and determine whether their current screening tools are compliant. If your workplace does not currently conduct screening, you should immediately implement the recommendations. However, note that, if your workplace is in an industry that is already required by the government to screen individuals, the recommendations may not apply. For example, the recommendations may not apply to health care settings and some non-health care workplaces such as congregated living settings where screening tools are already in place.
Should you have any questions, please contact any member of Siskinds’ Labour and Employment Group.