Vaccinated Workers Must Still Wear Masks. Period.

While the new vaccinations have alleviated the COVID crisis, they’ve also injected an element of confusion into mask rules. Full vaccination status is morphing into a passport enabling individuals to travel from province to province without self-isolating. However, it’s not an exemption from workplace mask rules. Under current public health guidelines, masks remain mandatory when individuals can’t maintain the required 2 metres/6 feet of social distancing regardless of their vaccination status. Period.

So, you should continue to enforce your face mask policy against both the vaccinated and unvaccinated. At the same time, you must recognize that there actually are legitimate grounds for exempting certain persons from mask rules:

1. They work in a setting that allows them to maintain the minimum social distancing;
2. The mask endangers their health or safety, such as by causing an allergic reaction;
3. They can’t safely use the mask due to a disability or other personal characteristic requiring accommodation under human rights laws.