After a few tweaks and modifications, the Town of Essex now has a COVID-19 vaccination policy for its staff.
Council has given unanimous support to the amended policy which addresses a number of issues brought forward by councillors.
Unvaccinated employees must take part in testing twice a week with those who refuse placed on unpaid leave, but they will not be fired.
Workers who opt for testing will no longer have to pay for it out of their own pocket — the cost will now be covered by the town through a federal program.
Councillor Steve Bjorkman says council's concerns have been dealt with.
"Those concerns were brought to us by our residents, our employees had those concerns and addressing all of these in a way that we don't come out with that heavy handed threat," says Bjorkman. "So I'm very happy that we can come to our employees and to our staff and give them an option and, perhaps, get through this epidemic."
Councillor Chris Vander Doelen feels the policy gives staff options.
"I'm very glad to see that people will be allowed to agree to testing and the termination is gone, that's excellent," says Vander Doelen. "So if somebody is really hardcore on this and they want to refuse a test, they can go on unpaid leave, I agree with that, but we want more options here and I see we have more options for our staff and that's great."
Councillor Sherry Bondy believes the policy is more than fair.
"I really think that our policy is the best in the region," says Bondy. "I've got a lot of calls and a lot of feedback in the last week saying thank you because we have compassion and we care about our workforce. We didn't just pass this policy in one meeting, we passed it in three meetings. Our employees can tell that we truly care about them."
The new policy also includes vaccination education sessions for all town staff.
Employees have until October 26 to receive their first dose of the vaccine while the second dose must be completed by November 30.
The new policy will be in place for three months at which time it'll be reviewed by administration.