Provincial Travel Advisory and Updated Resources (WorkSafeBC and PPE) - December 14, 2020

The Office of the Provincial Health Officer has advised that, at this time, all non-essential travel should be avoided. A full list of all province-wide PHO restrictions can be found here.

Employers are advised to explore options with employees who voluntarily disclose that they intend to travel outside the region so that a safe return to work can be facilitated. Additionally, employers are encouraged to review the following points when engaging in these discussions before employees leave on vacation:

1. Make employees aware of the PHO recommendation.
2. As of writing, there is no public health requirement for individuals to self-isolate after domestic Canadian travel or travel between regions in BC, as there is for individuals returning from international travel. As a result, employer direction to self-isolate would be employer-only required (eg. unless there is a public health direction issued that is applicable to an employee’s specific circumstances). Therefore this will most likely result in an employer having to continue to pay the employee for the duration of any employer-required leave period for self-isolation (see also below).
3. Vacationing employees may be informed to avoid non-essential domestic or inter-regional travel so that they remain compliant with PHO directions. Pending exceptional circumstances, employers would not be in a position to prohibit employees from travelling, although employee travel may result in consequential actions being taken, as discussed below.
4. Employees who travel may be encouraged to take additional paid time off upon return from travel (eg. vacation, accrued leaves) to cover for an isolation period upon return to the region. This would require agreement with the employee and ability to schedule additional leaves.
5. Regardless of when an employee returns to work, current WorkSafeBC COVID-19 health and safety plans require employees to complete a self-assessment prior to entering the workplace and to declare that they are symptom free and not a public health risk.
6. An employer who remains concerned about a returning employee presenting an elevated risk to individuals served and other staff may consider temporary options such as: the feasibility of the employee working from home with pay, in a separated work space wearing PPE, on shifts where the employee would not have direct contact with others, etc.
7. If the employee needs to be placed on an unpaid leave, support them in their application for the two week Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB). 

Note that the placing an employee on unpaid leave without public health, funder, and/or WorkSafeBC direction may result in the employer having to assume the liability for continuing to pay the employee for scheduled time lost. We recommend discussing the circumstances leading to such a decision with CSSEA.

Updated Resources (WSBC and PPE)

Please note that some of the more commonly relied upon resources for the sector have been recently updated.

WorkSafeBC has updated its COVID-19 Guidelines for employers pertaining to safety plans, worker health checks, mandatory masks, and inspections:https://www.worksafebc.com/en/resources/health-safety/books-guides/reviewing-updating-covid-19-safety-plans-guide-for-employers?lang=en

See also the links for community social services (non-residential) resources: https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/covid-19-updates/covid-19-industry-information/community-social-services-non-residential and for community social services (residential) resources:https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/covid-19-updates/covid-19-industry-information/community-social-services-residential

The following are some useful links to resources on Personal Protective Equipment:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/covid-19-provincial-support/supplies
https://smallbusinessbc.ca/ppe/

Should you have any further questions, please contact your HRLR Consultant or Advocate.