Labour board rejected challenge of unpaid leave for unvaccinated federal staff: union

Empty COVID-19 vaccine vials are shown at a pharmacy in Toronto on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

OTTAWA — Canada’s largest federal public sector union says the federal labour relations board has dismissed its policy grievances over Ottawa’s decision to put unvaccinated employees on leave without pay during the height of the pandemic.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada says in a news release that it filed several grievances challenging the implementation of vaccination policy.

Starting in October 2021, the federal government’s mandatory vaccination policy required employees working on site and from home to submit an attestation of their vaccination status by the end of that month or face being placed on administrative leave without pay.

The grievances, filed in 2021 and 2022, argued placing members on unpaid administrative leave was an “unreasonable exercise of management rights and amounted to disguised discipline.”

The union says in December the labour board dismissed the grievances, concluding the vaccination policies were within the government’s management authority, and that administrative leave without pay does not constitute disciplinary action.

The Treasury Board has not yet responded to a request for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2026.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press