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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 12 ,2 02 1 | 24 Get the Toronto Star weekend home delivery for just $399* AWEEK FOR12 MONTHS YOU'LL GET: • Saturday and Sunday home delivery • Starweek Magazine print edition • Complimentary 7-day ePaper edition • Complimentary 7-day access to thestar.com website *Plus HST. This introductory offer is not available to existing Toronto Star subscribers. Save 46% off the newsstand rate for Saturday and Sunday delivery. This offer includes Starweek Magazine. The New York Times International Weekly or Book Review sections are not included. This offer is for a 12-month term and includes complimentary access to thestar.com and the Toronto Star ePaper edition. Complimentary access is available to Toronto Star home-delivery subscribers with an active account in good standing. 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View our privacy policy at www.thestar.com/privacy. Offer expires August 31, 2021. SAVE 46 % OFFTHE NEWSSTAND RATE SUBSCRIBE ONLINE: tsoffers.ca/deal/comm OR CALL: 416-367-4500 and quote code 2DAYSAVE for weekend home delivery for 12 months Inside the risky business of Canada's dead ships: big money, rough seas, old steel and millions of dollars in cleanup. A26-27 I sCanada' of business risky the nside d teels old ,seas oughr ,money big ships: ead Brokenvessels WEATHER HIGH 27 C | THUNDERSTORMS |MAP A28 SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 2021 The MV Miner ran aground in Nova Scotia in 2011, crashing onto the shores of Scatarie Island, a pristine environmental area protected by the province. DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND NOVA SCOTIA ENVIRONMENT STAR INVESTIGATION Your business is a balancing act, so we make your delivery system easy. We have you covered with everything from shipping labels to receiving and routing. And with our custom client portal, you can follow live updates along the path of your parcel right to the customer's doorstep. Sign up now with Metroland Parcel Services. Visit our website at metrolandparcelservices.ca is a balancing act, so we make ed with e have you coverW om shipping labels everything fr And with our custom client updates along the path of your cel right to the customer's par doorstep. Sign up now with cel Services.oland ParMetr Scan for more information You've probably never asked not to work alongside someone because they hadn't received a flu shot, but what if a co-worker tells you they've opted out of the CO- VID-19 vaccine? This is a new dilemma work- ers and employers will need to navigate as more workplaces -- such as schools, universities and offices -- reopen post-pandemic. reopen. Further, with 70 per cent of Ontario's population over 12 years old fully vaccinated, and most new cases of COVID-19 ap- pearing in unvaccinated people, immunization status is resulting in friction between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. This could be especially true in the workplace, where employ- ees might work alongside the same people for 40 or more hours each week. So what solutions are available, and legal, when it comes to removing this friction? Employment lawyer Ryan Watkins and human resources expert Patrick Stepanian offer some answers. CAN WORKERS DEMAND NOT TO WORK NEXT TO UNVACCINATED CO-WORKERS? While workers can raise their concerns with employers, Stepa- nian, who serves as legal manag- er at health and safety consulting group Peninsula Canada, said employers in Canada are not le- gally required to accommodate this request. "If a worker does ask not to work next to an unvaccinated col- league, it will be up to the employ- er to either work out an accom- modation or to deny this re- quest," Stepanian said. Watkins, who practises at To- ronto-based firm Whitten & Lu- blin, said employers might be le- gally obligated to accommodate such a request under human rights provisions if the requester has been diagnosed with a health condition like cancer or an im- mune disorder. "Obviously those are in spe- cial circumstances, not every- body has those types of disabili- ties or illnesses," Watkins said. WHAT DUTY DO EMPLOYERS HAVE TO PROTECT WORKERS? Because COVID-19 vaccina- tion has not been made mandato- ry in Canada, vaccination status is considered private medical in- formation. If an unvaccinated worker chooses to share their status with a co-worker, that's one thing, but it's not information an employer can disclose to other workers. "Employers have to be careful, because with privacy legislation you want to ensure if you're going to have some type of vaccination policy, only those who need to know that information have it," Watkins said. "So it's hard to see where you could have an area where unvac- cinated people have to be segre- gated without it infringing on some privacy rights." Watkins said exceptions might be made in fields where employ- ers work with vulnerable popula- tions, such as in hospitals and long-term care homes. "Maybe in terms of heightened safety environment ... you could see where that policy might work," he said. WHAT TYPES OF ACCOMMODA- TION SHOULD EMPLOYERS OFFER? Watkins and Stepanian agree employers are required to take measures to keep employees safe from COVID-19. "Certainly, workers are enti- tled to be safe in their workplace and employers have an obligation to make sure that's the case, so we start with that premise," Watkins said. As for what those measures look like, Stepanian said there are some basic legal guidelines. "Employers should be follow- ing the health and safety guide- lines of their local public health unit. In many cases, measures such as distancing and masking are still required in workplaces regardless of vaccination status," Stepanian said. "These measures have been deemed sufficient by public health units in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and keep- ing workplaces safe." Beyond those requirements, employers might choose to ac- commodate workers by allowing them to work remotely or, if that's not possible, to use sepa- rate workstations. Employers could also install Plexiglas barri- ers between workstations WORKING WITH UNVACCINATED COLLEAGUES Ryan Watkins is a partner at Whitten and Lublin. Valeria Labas Karam photo MEGAN DELAIRE mdelaire@toronto.com NEWS HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN, AND CAN'T, ASK YOUR EMPLOYER FOR