As more workplaces open up, Canadians are faced with the challenge of going back to work after being told for months that can be dangerous.
Data on work refusals reported to provincial labour authorities shows there’s been a spike in the number of people who have formally refused to work citing dangerous conditions. But virtually none of those work refusals are being upheld, which may illustrate just how unprepared existing labour laws are for dealing with COVID-19.
All provinces have laws allowing people to refuse dangerous work. But a general fear of contracting COVID-19 is not enough to justify a work refusal, and neither are the risks associated with travelling to-and-from work, illustrating the challenges Canadians face as they balance exposure to the virus with getting back to the office or factory floor.
As some Canadians grapple with whether it’s safe safe to return to their jobs, provinces are going ahead with reopening plans that will see more Canadians getting back to their workplaces.
Stage two of Ontario’s reopening includes personal care services like hair salons and day spas, along with shopping malls and outdoor restaurant patios. Quebec is reopening salons, restaurants, gyms, arenas and indoor pools in parts of the province.
As more businesses start calling their employees back to work, provincial labour laws are about to get tested as authorities try to balance the economy with keeping workers safe from the pandemic.
Workplace concerns
CBC asked the provinces for data on work refusals related to COVID-19 related to concerns such as inadequate physical distancing or lack of protective equipment.
Work refusals are reported to the labour ministry or a workplace safety commission, depending on the province, which sends an inspector to decide on the refusal.
WATCH | Employment lawyer tackles tough questions about returning to work:
‘The test is: Is it objectively unsafe?’ says Howard Levitt, in responding to a question about whether employees can refuse to return to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 5:01
Ontario has seen the largest number of work refusals: 280 from January to June. Out of those, only one related to COVID-19 was found to meet the criteria of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, according to Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.
The one case upheld in Ontario involved a worker at Berry Global, a plastics packaging plant in Scarborough. The work refusal happened after another employee came to the plant after possible exposure to COVID-19. The ministry issued an order for the plant “to take every reasonable precaution to protect workers.” The company did not have more details to add.
There have been COVID-19-related work refusals in other provinces as well, although the overall numbers remain low.
In Quebec, there were 21 refusals related to COVID-19. Only one was upheld. It involved an immunocompromised employee in a workplace where they could not get reliable information on the health condition of their colleagues, according to Quebec’s workplace health and safety commission. The commission did not identify the workplace.
Work refusal process an important protection
Katherine Lippel, a legal expert at the University of Ottawa, said formally refusing to work due to safety concerns can kick-start important protections.
“What you need to know is that when somebody exercises the right to refuse dangerous work, even if the exercise is not upheld, there are protections by law that that person gets,” she said.
For instance, their employer has to try to work with them to address the possible danger and the worker can temporarily stop working and protect themselves. If the issue is not resolved between the employer and worker, then a provincial inspector steps in.
Katherine Lippel, a workplace safety law expert at the University of Ottawa, says vulnerable workers need better protections during the pandemic. (Submitted by Katherine Lippel )
Lippel, who is the Canada Research Chair on Occupational Health and Safety Law, has a forthcoming paper reviewing some challenges facing workers during the pandemic. She argues that there are structural gaps in the protections available to workers as they return to work.
They include: the risks faced in getting to work (such as using mass transit), which is generally not the employer’s responsibility, and protections for people with underlying health conditions that make them more susceptible to COVID-19.
Unions frustrated with process
Labour unions have been keeping a close watch on these issues as their members worked through the lockdown. The United Food and Commercial Workers represents about 70,000 workers in Ontario, many in essential services like grocery stores. They also represent workers in other hard-hit sectors such as tourism.
“We’ve been a little frustrated with some of the process here in Ontario, as most of the work refusals that have been done and have been processed through the ministry have not led to any orders or been upheld,” said Tim Deelstra, spokesperson for UFCW in Ontario.
“And so that process is a bit frustrating, because obviously workers who are on the frontlines of this situation are concerned about their health and welfare and they want to believe that they have options available to them if they are concerned.”
Deelstra said that their members have been involved in about eight work refusal applications in Ontario, in grocery retail and industrial meat processing.
The Ontario labour ministry said that “large portions of the COVID-19 work refusals were initiated by workers who have limited rights to refuse work under the OHSA.” These are employees in sectors such as healthcare and corrections, where refusing to work “directly endanger(s) the life, health or safety of another person.”
The ministry says that even in those cases, inspectors can still investigate the complaint if a hazard is identified.
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.
Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively
Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.
It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.
Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.
The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.
Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.
The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.
Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.
San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.
Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.
Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024
It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.
As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.
In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).
However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.
And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.
In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).
Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).
Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.
Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.
Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.
A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.
A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.
A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
