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Employees with the City of Edmonton will now be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof of vaccination by Nov. 15.
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The City of Edmonton released a document on Monday morning stating that all city employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and be able to provide proof of vaccination by Nov. 15. Employees who cannot be fully vaccinated on the basis of a protected legal ground, which includes medical and religious reasons, may request an exemption.
“The health and safety of employees and Edmontonians is our top priority. We believe this is the right decision for our workforce, the right decision for protecting our community and the right decision for the health care system,” stated City Manager Andre Corbould.
Employees must receive one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 30, and the second dose by Oct. 31. This will ensure all employees are fully vaccinated by Nov. 15. Employees hired after the approval date will be required to be fully vaccinated or have an approved exemption before working with the City of Edmonton.
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Unvaccinated employees without an exemption will be required to submit ongoing COVID-19 rapid antigen testing up to twice per week, at the employee’s own cost. Employees who do not comply with the testing requirements will be deemed unfit for work and will be placed on leave without pay.
The City of Edmonton recently introduced a vaccination disclosure policy to better understand how many employees had been vaccinated. On the morning of Sept. 13, 86 per cent of employees responded and 72 per cent of employees indicated they were fully vaccinated.
“Information provided by our staff tells us that we need the additional control measure of vaccinations in our workplaces to minimize the serious hazard of COVID-19 to the greatest extent possible,” said Corbould. “We believe the vaccination policy, along with all of our other controls will provide a level of comfort and certainty.”
