Labour board rejected challenge of unpaid leave for unvaccinated federal staff: union
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
OTTAWA – Canada’s largest federal public sector union says the federal labour relations board has dismissed its policy grievances over Ottawa’s decision to put unvaccinated employees on leave without pay during the height of the pandemic.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada says in a news release that it filed several grievances challenging the implementation of vaccination policy.
Starting in October 2021, the federal government’s mandatory vaccination policy required employees working on site and from home to submit an attestation of their vaccination status by the end of that month or face being placed on administrative leave without pay.
The grievances, filed in 2021 and 2022, argued placing members on unpaid administrative leave was an “unreasonable exercise of management rights and amounted to disguised discipline.”
The union says in December the labour board dismissed the grievances, concluding the vaccination policies were within the government’s management authority, and that administrative leave without pay does not constitute disciplinary action.
The Treasury Board has not yet responded to a request for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2026.