Earlier this week, the City of Toronto fired 461 employees for not complying with its COVID-19 vaccination policy.
In a news release, the city stated that as of it’s deadline at midnight on Jan. 2, “approximately 98.6 percent of the active workforce reported being fully vaccinated.”
Those that didn’t comply, who do not have a pending appeal, were terminated.
What’s next for these employees?
The city implemented its vaccine mandate in August 2021, giving employees approximately five months to comply with its ‘jab or else’ rule.
The loss of 461 employees is no drop in the bucket. While the city says these employees were suspended and it’s not currently facing staffing issues, it’s hard to imagine that they can press on without doubling up responsibilities on other staff.
Added to that, in the face of the Omicron variant taking down vaccinated and unvaccinated workers alike, staffing pressures will be even further compounded.
The City of Toronto is not the only one taking a hard stance with respect to its vaccine mandate.
In a Reuters article this week entitled “No Jab, No Job,” Citigroup Inc. has also announced that its U.S. staff have until Jan. 14 to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, otherwise they will be placed on unpaid leave and fired at the end of the month, unless an exemption is granted. According to Reuters, Citigroup is the first major Wall Street institution to follow through with a policy requiring strict compliance.
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