After the Employer implemented a COVID-19 Vaccination Disclosure Policy requiring that employees either disclose that they had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or show proof of a negative Rapid Antigen Test, the Union grieved the aspects of the Policy which required employees to pay for their own rapid tests and conduct the tests on their own time.
Arbitrator Southern upheld the Union’s grievance with respect to the cost of the tests. She found that the Employer should bear the cost of rapid tests for multiple reasons, including that rapid tests were analogous to a required “safety item” under the Collective Agreement for which the Employer had agreed to pay. However, the Arbitrator found that the time required to take a rapid test was not a significant enough demand on an employee’s personal time to warrant compensation.
Accordingly, the Arbitrator declared the aspect of the policy requiring employees cover the cost of rapid testing to be invalid and ordered the Employer to compensate the employees affected by making them whole with respect to those expenses.