North Vancouver Recreation and Culture staff are the next to face mandatory vaccinations against COVID-19 to stay on the job.
Following decisions by all three North Shore municipalities and the West Vancouver Police Department, North Van Rec leadership told their 650 full-time, part-time and casual staff and volunteers last week they will need to have two doses by March 31 if they want to keep working.
North Van Rec director Heather Turner said the intent is to maximize the health and well-being of staff, who will now face the same rules as most clients coming to use North Van Rec facilities or classes, and to minimize staff downtime due to illness or hospitalization from COVID-19.
“Being a responsible employer, we want to make sure that we are doing everything that we can. We're following all the orders. We're doing all the health and safety protocols. This is one more step in that process,” she said.
North Vancouver Recreation and Culture operates under the auspices of the two North Vancouver municipalities but it is a separate employer. The organization oversees 10 community centres and Centennial Theatre.
Timing for the announcement was intended to follow the municipal vaccine mandates, which come into effect this month, Turner said.
Turner added she is hoping the decision won’t result in much turnover for staff, who are already difficult to hire for part-time positions.
“We'll do everything we can to encourage them and avoid employees lose their employment. We certainly don't want that. We would try to point them in the right direction for resources to get more information,” she said. “But if they do not (get vaccinated) by that date, and they do not have a legitimate exemption, they would be placed on an unpaid leave of absence.”
After the District of West Vancouver’s mandate was enforced on Jan. 4, 17 employees were put on unpaid leave, and just one of the West Vancouver Police Department’s 90 officer and civilian staff failed to comply by their Jan. 11 deadline.
Hunter said they are seeing more absenteeism due to the Omicron variant than they saw in any of the previous waves of the pandemic but the numbers are “not significant.”
“Let’s hope it’s peaked,” she said.
