Employees unfortunate to be in in jurisdictions with controversial vaccine passport mandates, such as parts of Canada, have to play the role of police to ensure that customers are carrying valid vaccine passports.
According to Howard Levitt, a Canadian lawyer, employees are complaining about having to check clients’ vaccination status through the app.
In an article published in the Financial Post, Levitt said that “a large number of employees tell us these changes have resulted in over-all demoralization in the workplace.”
Levitt adds: “Employees ask us repeatedly: ‘Do we have to act as frontline staff for our employer? It was never part of our job description.’ A client recently complained by stating, ‘I am a server, but I did not sign up to act as security at the door. I am scared of confrontation, why do I have to do this? I don’t fully understand who qualifies for an exemption.’”
Employees do not want to confront clients who might not have the vaccine passport. And some would not even know how to determine a vaccine passport is fraudulent.
Levitt continues to tell the story of a waiter who allowed in a patron who did not have an ID, which is required to verify the vaccine passport. The waiter said he allowed the patron because “they don’t pay me enough to do this. It is stressful, and I operate largely on tips. They should hire someone to do this work.”
In certain jurisdictions, employees have to check for vaccine passports and still ensure customers are maintaining social distance, hygiene, and wearing masks.
Levitt maintains that employees have a responsibility of helping their employer maintain a safe environment. That is especially true if your job description involves overseeing the business. The only employers who could legally push back against this new responsibility are those that rarely interact with customers, such as bookkeepers, according to Levitt.
