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Employer Puts Surcharge On Unvaccinated

While the healthcare situation may be different in Canada, some employees are wondering about the move by a U.S employer to impose a monthly surcharge for all unvaccinated members of its healthcare plan, says a Fasken ‘Bulletin.’ Some are already asking if they can follow suit in Canada and increase health benefit premiums for unvaccinated employees. In deciding to implement the surcharge as of November 1, the employer pointed to the fact that all of its employees who were hospitalized with COVID-19 were not fully vaccinated. The average hospital stay for those employees cost the employer $50,000 per person. However, there are usually fewer direct healthcare costs for Canadian employers. Canadian employers who are self-insured for short-term disability and have seen an increase in paid benefits to unvaccinated workers who get COVID-19 or if they are providing paid sick time and seeing an increase in paid sick time to unvaccinated workers is one rationale. On the other hand, a unilateral and substantial change to the terms and conditions of employment can be a constructive dismissal giving rise to similar termination obligations as a without cause termination. In most cases, a small and reasonable increase to health benefit premiums is unlikely to rise to the level of a constructive dismissal. If imposing a surcharge, in unionized workplaces, employers should look first to their collective agreements to determine what rights and obligations apply in relation to benefits and benefit premiums. A union could challenge an increase as a breach of a specific term of the collective agreement, as an unreasonable exercise of management rights, or other creative argument. If the union can prove its case at arbitration, the employer may be ordered to cease the benefit increase, reimburse employees, and, depending on the case, to pay other damages or costs. For employees who are unable to vaccinate due to a protected grounds under human rights legislation – like a medical condition or religious reason, employers should consider whether these employees need to be exempt from the surcharge or whether they can justify treating all employees who refuse vaccination – regardless?of the reason – the same and subject to the surcharge.

Climate-Themed Funds Unaligned With Paris Agreement

More than half of climate-themed funds do not align with the goals of the Paris Agreement, says an analysis by InfluenceMap, a global climate-risk think tank. It found of the 130 climate-themed funds, 72 had a negative score, while funds scoring better had at least a 50 per cent chance of reaching the Paris Agreement goal. A score of zero represents alignment with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to at least 1.75 degrees Celsius, while a negative percentage indicates that a portfolio is overweight in companies whose production plans negatively diverge from climate scenarios in the coal mining, oil and gas, power, and automotive sectors. One-third of the 130 climate funds scored between -10 per cent and -20 per cent and were typically funds passively tracking market indexes while screening for things such as fossil-fuel companies. Such funds "appear to provide limited climate benefit from a portfolio standpoint compared with the broader market," the report says. It also found that funds marketed as ‘fossil fuel restricted’ often retained holdings in oil and gas value chain companies such as refiners, while some passive funds underweighted instead of excluded climate-negative sectors. Still, climate-themed funds scored better than the broad ESG funds on Paris Agreement alignment, with an average score of minus six per cent, compared with the zero average by climate-themed funds.

For details on these stories, visit www.bpmmagazine.com

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