Could ‘Kraken’ variant change the way Calgarians go to the office?
Posted Jan 7, 2023 10:32 am.
Last Updated Jan 7, 2023 10:33 am.
With the “Kraken” COVID-19 variant spreading in Alberta now, some employees in Calgary are wondering what could the office work scenario look like in the coming days.
While some employers in Alberta are still offering hybrid work options, where employees can choose to work from home or office according to their work, others are still enforcing back-to-office strictly.
CityNews asked a lawyer and senior associate at the law firm Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, Karen Tereposky, if this new variant will change anything.
“I don’t think employers know yet, this is pretty new and I don’t think anybody had taken steps at this time,” Tereposky said
“The government hasn’t said you know as for in in 2020 and 2021, that there’s a mandatory work-from-home order and that’s when employers became legally bound to give employees that option. The only other way that they would be legally bound is if it’s in the employment contract for the particular employee. If there is some clause in there saying, you know what? at this point I get to choose, then yeah sure.”
Meanwhile, Calgarians had different feelings about this scenario.
“I think that this time period prove that you don’t need to be at your workplace to be as productive,” said Calgary resident Gerald Tim.
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Another Calgarian, Casie John, told CityNews it can be hard to take days off, as people struggle to make ends meet.
“With the economy the way it is, sometimes it is really hard to take some time off when you need to, because you got bills to pay,” John said. “We should probably still have like the option whether to work at home or work in the office.”
And for those who might not get the option of working from home and are worried about losing money because they can get sick with the new “Kraken” COVID-19 variant, Tereposky has some solutions.
“There are job-protected leaves under the Employment Standards Code,” Tereposky said. “There’s a COVID leave and just a long-term illness leave that can be accessed, in which case your employer has to let you take those, and return to your same job when you’re done.”
