PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to outline Kids Come First Child Care Services (“Kids Come First” or the “Centre”) expectations and requirements with respect to vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as if there is any other outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic of a serious infectious disease in Ontario and/or Canada in the future.

This Policy is intended to promote the health and safety of the Centre’s children, staff, volunteers, placement students, service providers, and their families by reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and other serious infectious diseases at the Centre to the greatest extent possible, in addition to the various other health and safety measures and precautions that the Centre has implemented or will implement from time to time.

The health and well-being of everyone at Kids Come First and the preventing of the spread of COVID-19, is of critical importance to the Centre. The Centre considers the vaccination of individuals who regularly interact with and/or provide services to children to be of crucial importance due to the nature of their work and the elevated risk of transmission of COVID-19 in childcare settings

All employees and other workers are expected to take all reasonable precautions for their own health and safety related policies, procedures and requirements of the centre. This includes but is not limited to the Centre’s Pandemic Response plan and other COVID-19 related policies.

Background

Kids Come First recognizes the importance of immunization of individuals regularly interacting and providing services to children due to the nature of their work and potential for exposure in the community. This policy aims to protect the Centre’s children, staff, volunteers, students on educational placements and any person providing child care or other services to a child in care. During the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, vaccination is incredibly important for protecting the health and safety of the children given that they are not currently eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 themselves.

COVID-19 is an acute respiratory illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It may be characterized by fever, cough, shortness of breath, and several other symptoms. Asymptomatic infection is also possible. The risk of severe disease increases with age but is not limited to the elderly and is elevated in those with underlying medical conditions.

Application

Effective September 7, 2021, this Policy applies to all employees, placement students, volunteers, and service providers of the Centre. The Centre reserves the right to amend, replace, and/or modify this Policy from time to time, in its sole discretion. All Kids Come First employees, placement students, and volunteers (are required to abide by the requirements, terms, and conditions set out in this Policy, as applicable, and as amended, modified, or replaced from time to time.

This policy must be reviewed by all employees, volunteers, and placement students once it is approved by the Board of Directors, at the start of these individuals’ employment, volunteering, or placement at the Centre, and annually afterwards, as applicable.

POLICY

If there is an outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic of a serious infectious disease in Ontario and/or Canada (“Identified Contagion”), including but not limited to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are one or more vaccines available for the Identified Contagion which have been approved by Health Canada (“Vaccines”), Kids Come First strongly encourages all employees, placement students, and volunteers to be vaccinated against the Identified Contagion. However, this requirement does not apply to those who are unable to be vaccinated for reasons related to protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code, as amended from time to time, or any successor legislation (the “Code”).

The Centre considers Vaccines to be a very safe and effective way to protect the Centre’s staff, children, and families in the event of an outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic of an Identified Contagion. Accordingly, all placement students, volunteers, and new employees who begin their employment with the Centre after September 7, 2021 will be required to provide proof that they have been fully vaccinated with one or more Vaccines against any Identified Contagion, or reasonable evidence that they are unable to be vaccinated with such Vaccines for reasons related to protected grounds under the Code. The Centre shall determine what constitutes reasonable evidence for these purposes, in its sole discretion.

Employees whose employment began prior to September 7, 2021, who have been continuously employed by the Centre since that time, will not be required to receive such Vaccines as a term for continued employment, unless required by applicable legislation, regulations, guidelines, and/or public health guidance.

Further, during an outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic, all employees, placement students, and volunteers are required to disclose to the Executive Director or their designate whether they have been fully vaccinated against the Identified Contagion, and if they are vaccinated, they must provide proof of vaccination to the Executive Director or their designate. The type of proof required will be determined by the Executive Director or their designate from time to time, in their discretion.

Although employees, volunteers, and placement students are free to disclose their vaccination status to other employees, volunteers, and placement students, such people, other than the Executive Director or their designate, are prohibited from asking one another if they have been vaccinated.

The Centre will not tolerate any employee, volunteer, or placement student treating any other individual disrespectfully or adversely because they have or have not been vaccinated. All employees, volunteers, and placement students are required to treat others with dignity and respect, regardless of their vaccination status, as required by the Centre’s Workplace Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Anti-Discrimination Policy.

Should any vaccination that is not currently required under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (“CCEYA”) become mandatory under the CCEYA, then all employees will be required to receive the vaccine in question unless they are subject to a specific exemption. Employees can be exempted from the requirement of immunization under the CCEYA for religious or conscience reasons by submitting an affidavit that is signed by a commissioner of oaths, notary public or justice of the peace attesting to their sincerely held convictions based on religion (including creed) or conscience. Employees can also be exempted from the requirement of immunization under the CCEYA for medical reasons by submitting supporting documentation from a legally qualified medical practitioner that indicates why the employee should not be immunized.

The Centre reserves the right to impose work-related measures for legitimate health and safety reasons upon employees, volunteers, and placement students who have not been vaccinated against an Identified Contagion. Such work-related measures could include being subject to more stringent health and safety requirements (such as wearing additional PPE or being required to undergo routine testing), modified duties, and/or being placed on a leave of absence during the outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic, subject to the Code.

Requirements Specific to the COVID-19 Pandemic

With respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kids Come First requires all individuals subject to this policy must provide at minimum one of the following:

Proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 (i.e., having received the full series of a COVID-19 vaccine or combination of COVID-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organization, and having received the final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days ago);
Written proof of a medical reason, provided by either a physician or nurse practitioner that sets out:
1. That the person cannot or should not be vaccinated against COVID-19 for medical reasons; and
2. The effective time period for the medical reason (i.e., permanent or time-limited);

An educational session that has been approved by Kids Come First may be required by all staff regardless of their vaccination status. Individuals covered by this policy may be required to provide proof of successful completion of the educational session to the Executive Director or their designate. The type of proof required will be determined by the Executive Director or their designate from time to time, in their discretion.

As required by Kids Come First all employees, placement students, and volunteers who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be required to complete antigen point of care testing for COVID-19 prior to attending the workplace. In addition, until further notice, a rapid antigen test will be required 3 times per week as indicated below.

Testing requirements are as follows:

one test must be completed by Sunday and the results of the test must be sent by email or by text to the Executive Director or her designate between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.
Tests will need to be completed on site on Tuesdays and Thursday of each week ;

If testing is done offsite:

Individuals who fail to provide a negative result before a shift as required by this policy may not be permitted to attend the workplace until they provide written verification of a negative test result.

If an individual receives a positive result on an antigen test and they have symptoms, will be required to isolate (e.g., not attend the workplace) as per the current Ontario Screening Tool.

Support for Vaccination

Kids Come First will provide the following supports for people subject to this policy to receive a vaccine:

employees are permitted to use any paid sick days or personal days to which they are otherwise entitled to for the purposes of receiving a Vaccine, or while recovering from any side effects of a Vaccine;
assistance with booking a vaccine appointment;
peer-to-peer support; and
any other reasonable support required.

Privacy of Personal Information

The personal information that must be disclosed under this Policy, as set out above, is required so that the Centre can make informed decisions with respect to the health and safety measures that may need to be implemented in the workplace for the duration of the outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic to ensure that the Centre is taking all reasonable precautions to protect the health and safety of its workers and the children in our care. The information is also required so that that the Centre can ensure compliance with any applicable legislation, regulations, guidelines, and/or public health guidance that may differentiate between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

In accordance with the Centre’s Privacy Policy, employees’, volunteers’, and placement students’ personal health information will be kept confidential to the greatest extent possible, and shall not be disclosed to anyone else, unless absolutely necessary to implement health and safety requirements, as determined by the Executive Director and/or Board of Directors, in their discretion, or as required by law. The required personal health information will be stored in digital and hard copy at the Centre’s head office.

As per s. 77 of O. Reg 137/15 made under the CCEYA, the Centre is required to report certain statistical information to the Ministry of Education as may be required, including information related to the matters addressed by this policy (such as numbers of staff vaccinated). No identifying information will be provided to the Ministry in relation to this policy; all statistical information will be provided in aggregate form.

Accommodation

In all cases, the Centre will provide employees with reasonable accommodation for any work-related limitations arising from protected grounds under the Code, up to the point of undue hardship, in accordance with the Centre’s Workplace Accommodation Policy.

Policy Violations

Failure to abide by this policy may result in progressive discipline, up to and including termination of employment, in the case of employees, or termination of volunteering or a student placement.

In particular, any falsifications, misrepresentations or omissions by an employee with respect to their vacation status for the purposes of the requirements set out above may be grounds for the immediate termination of their employment for cause.

Posted January 6, 2023