Covid-19 Updates | Daily Workplace Round Up for June 18, 2020

Sarah Visca | Jun 18, 2020

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Below are the key announcements from the Federal, Ontario, Alberta and B.C. governments that touch on workplace issues for June 18, 2020.

Federal

New Mobile App Launch for COVID-19 Exposure

Justin Trudeau announced today, the upcoming launch of a new nation-wide mobile app to provide notifications of exposure to COVID-19 across Canada.

Here's some quick facts about the upcoming app:

The app will help Canadians and public health officials identify and isolate the spread of the virus more quickly.
To protect confidentiality and privacy, the app will not disclose the identity of users.
No personal information is collected by the app, and it does not track the user’s location to ensure the privacy of all Canadians.
Use of the app will be voluntary.

The app will be available to Canadians for free download in the coming weeks, with health authorities in Ontario being the first to distribute the unique, temporary codes to people who test positive for COVID-19.

For more information, see this news release.

Ontario

Emergency Orders Extended until June 30

The province announced that it has extended all emergency orders currently under force until June 30, 2020.

Although all emergency orders will remain in place, the Ontario government has stated that it will continue to review each one on an ongoing, case-by-case basis to determine when and if they can be safely adjusted or lifted.

For more information, check out this news release.

Alberta

Bill 24: COVID-19 Pandemic Response Statutes Amendment Act

Bill 24, the COVID-19 Pandemic Response Statutes Amendment Act, proposes amendments to 15 acts across seven ministries. The amendments are being proposed now that the state of public health emergency has ended.

Key highlights of the bill include but are not limited to extending existing measures, such as:

Extending to August 2021 the unpaid job-protected leave specific to COVID-19, which allows employees to take leave to care for a child due to school or daycare closures or to care for an ill or self-isolating family member.
Extending the maximum time for temporary layoffs related to COVID-19 from 120 days to 180 days (this change would come into force upon first reading).
Extending arrangements that support the Chief Medical Officer of Health Order No. 10 that allows a health-care facility to limit employees to working at one site.

New measures include but are not limited to:

Providing the province and municipalities with flexibility and authority to effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and future provincial emergencies, including to suspend or modify permit requirements for temporary facilities such as drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites.
Extending the deadline for the public release of Alberta’s annual report and financial statements to Aug. 31.

Full details of Bill 24 are available online.

British Columbia

British Columbians Invited to Share Ideas

As B.C. looks to build a strong economic recovery, the government is inviting people to share their feedback. People can share their ideas, experiences and priorities by:

Participating in an online survey;
Providing a response by email on the recently released paper, Building BC’s Recovery, Together – Share your ideas; and
Participating in virtual town halls.

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Sarah Visca is the Operations Manager at ConnectsUs HR, a company that provides tools & resources to quickly set up a Human Resources department.
You can contact her here.

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COVID-19 Updates | Daily Workplace Round Up for June 18, 2020