Air Canada recently announced that it is placing 800 of its employees on unpaid leave because they failed to comply with its vaccine mandate. The said mandate required all of the company’s employees and staff to be fully vaccinated against the virus by October 30.
According to Air Canada’s Media Relations Director, Pascal Déry, the airline company’s personnel who are still unvaccinated or were not given the appropriate exemptions would be placed under suspension. However, he stressed that the company’s decision “may be subject to change” if the concerned individuals get the shots.
The country’s largest airline and flag carrier announced its vaccine mandate on August 25 to “further protect employees and customers.” It also emphasized that complete vaccination is a “condition of employment for any individual hired by the company.”
Notably, testing will not be offered as an alternative under Air Canada’s mandatory vaccination policy. The company also highlighted that its vaccine mandate is in accord with the announcement by the Government of Canada “requiring employees in the federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation sectors to be vaccinated by the end of October 2021.”
On a related note, Westjet also recently placed unvaccinated employees under suspension for failing to get the COVID-19 jabs.
