This immunocompromised public servant says RTO could put their life at risk

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on: January 27, 2025
By Chris Aylward

Public Service Confidential is a workplace advice column for federal public servants. The following question has been edited for clarity and length.

I am an immunocompromised federal public servant with multiple chronic illnesses. I still work from home, but HR wants me back in the office three days a week the moment they can give me a private office beside the bathroom. My doctor wrote a letter to counter the accommodation, saying it’s not appropriate and even less beside a bathroom with the shared environment, and it could put my life at risk of getting sick with complications. So I am fighting to keep my full-time telework agreement.

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labour rights

Sick days skyrocketed as Treasury Board employees returned to the office

Published October 31, 2024

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on: October 31, 2024
By Catherine Morrison

The number of sick days employees working for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat took during the month of September skyrocketed as the department urged public servants to make their way back to their offices at least three days a week.

According to departmental data, TBS employees took a total of 2,191 sick days between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30.

That was up significantly from previous years. During the same period in 2023, employees took 1,708.9 sick days. In 2022, they took 1,477.9 sick days and in 2021 they had 1,075.4 sick days. In 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, TBS employees’ sick days totalled a mere 827.6 days.

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labour rights

Arizonans can now receive workers comp benefits for getting Covid-19 on the job

Published September 23, 2023

Published by: KVOA
Published on: September 23, 2023
By Gabrielle Parish

In a groundbreaking development, Arizonans can now apply for worker’s compensation if they contract COVID-19 while on the job. This landmark decision stems from a widow’s determined fight to secure worker’s compensation following her husband’s tragic demise due to COVID-19.

Court documents unequivocally state that if someone contracts COVID-19 at their workplace, they are entitled to file for worker’s compensation. An essential detail to note is that if a worker succumbs to the virus, their next of kin will receive financial support.

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Tag: workplace outbreaks