GUELPH/ERAMOSA – Following in the footsteps of the County of Wellington and Town of Minto, the Township of Guelph/Eramosa will now require all employees to disclose their vaccination status.
In a Sept. 15 committee of the whole meeting, CAO Ian Roger announced the township will begin the process of implementing its own vaccination policy, which requires that all employees under the township be vaccinated.
As per the policy, all staff will be required to declare their vaccination status – fully, partially or unvaccinated/no answer.
Those who are unvaccinated or unwilling to disclose their status will require regular testing.
The policy, which will come into effect later this week, will apply to all current and new employees. It does not include members of council.
When the Advertiser initially asked the town in August about plans to implement mandatory vaccinations, Roger said the township was monitoring larger municipalities to see how the different challenges from a legal and labour perspective played out before it decided on a direction.
After reviewing other policies, the township decided to implement its own.
“It’s becoming the norm I guess for most workplaces and with the county releasing theirs and having seen what’s there really isn’t that different from a lot of others,” Roger explained.
“We’re just going to go ahead and use the county’s template and implement it.”
Roger added, “It’s where the worlds going right now, and we just want to make sure that we’re similarly covered and planning for the contingencies right now as the province tells us the different things we have to plan for.”
Reopening town hall
Roger said the township is also looking to reopen town hall for public access following Oct. 22, when the province’s digital certificate is expected to be released.
“That’s what we’re working towards – again subject to any additional changes or curveballs the province throws at us … I think that’s what we’re going to work towards at this point.”
