The Courts of Ontario have yet to provide a definite answer to this question. However, there are viable legal arguments that support that an employer who terminates an employee, solely for their vaccine status, may not be able to do so “with cause” and consequently avoid providing statutory and common law reasonable notice of termination.
While the Ontario government recommends that everyone gets vaccinated, there is currently no statute requiring all employers to make vaccines mandatory in the workplace. Many employers are choosing to implement vaccine polices in response to the efforts to combat the pandemic.
However, since workplace vaccine polices are not yet fully mandated by the government (with exceptions of certain sectors including long-term care home employees, and employees in the transportation sector, for example), a termination based on failure to be vaccinated remains largely a private organization-based choice.
When you entered into your employment contract, vaccination was almost certainly not a condition of employment. As such, a requirement to now be vaccinated represents a change to the terms of your employment contract. This change could, itself, represent a constructive dismissal.
Vaccination policies are here to stay, and will continue to be implemented by employers in the coming days. The sector you are in, the policy of your employer, and your job duties and responsibilities will influence how a court will treat whether being vaccinated is a bona fide job requirement, and whether there was a legal basis for termination of your employment “with cause”.
An employer who insists on you adhering to a vaccine policy may be exposing themselves to damages. That may equate to wrongful termination from your employment. If you are fired for your vaccine status, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact our office for any further information.
If we do not recover money for you, there are no legal fees.