Editor:
As we are all aware, British Columbia has now entered into phase 2 of our province’s restart plan. This means that many businesses have reopened their doors to the general public, while staff that once worked remotely are being required to go back into the office.
Unfortunately, this all seems a bit premature, in my opinion.
While I can understand that getting back to business is important, some employers clearly don’t take into the consideration the health of their employees.
For example, I have several friends who had been working remotely during this pandemic.
Many of them have said that their management advised them that job performance was not hindered in any way while they were working remotely, yet the majority of them were told they had to return to the office today.
Some of them have underlying health issues and even provided a doctor’s note saying they were to work remotely for the time being.
Apparently, this isn’t enough for some employers – as they either want their employees to go into work regardless of their health concerns/underlying conditions, or some employers are even requesting that second notes be provided – which just seems ridiculous to me.
Now, my friends have to worry about not only their health, but the health of their family members (spouses, children, etc.), all because they have to risk going into work because their employers are choosing business/dollars over people's lives.
According to a conversation I had with a WorkSafeBC employee, employers cannot ask their employees to provide doctors’ notes, and that if they do, then they are doing so in contrary to orders by our public health office.
Brianne Amira, Burnaby
