Office life unlikely to return to what it was in 2019
By Amanda Oye
AS COMPANIES AROUND the country make plans to bring employees back into offices, and grapple with how to do so safely, Cartt.ca asked a variety of Canadian telecommunications and broadcasting companies about their own plans.
Few companies Cartt.ca reached out to have, at this point, decided to require staff to be fully vaccinated. Fourteen companies responded to our request for information on back to office plans, only three of which indicated they were requiring some or all employees to be vaccinated.
OUTtv is one of those companies. While taking its time planning for staff who have been working from home to return to the office, the company expects all employees to be double-vaccinated when they do, according to Brad Danks, OUTtv’s CEO. Danks also indicated all staff are set to be fully vaccinated by early September. The company is operating on an honour system and does not require proof of vaccination.
Rogers has also implemented a vaccination policy. In a memo sent to staff this morning, the company’s chief human resources officer, Jim Reid, informed employees that everyone who goes into the workplace, including those working in stores and in the field, will be required to be fully vaccinated by October 18. Employees will be asked to register their vaccination status in September. However, those who are unable to be vaccinated or choose not to be vaccinated will still have the option to take a rapid test before entering the workplace and will be expected to wear a mask to work.
Over at Corus, the company “is collecting and using vaccination status where needed for business reasons,” but is not requiring employees to submit copies of evidence they have been vaccinated, according to a spokesperson.
Several companies including Eastlink, SaskTel and Stingray have indicated they are encouraging but not yet requiring employees to get vaccinated. A SaskTel spokesperson also noted the company does not require employees to wear masks, but does encourage those who want to, to do so. All mandatory health requirements were lifted in Saskatchewan in July.
Some companies indicated they are going by government decisions on requiring vaccinations. CBC is currently “assessing the federal government’s requirement” on vaccinations, according to a spokesperson. Cogeco also indicated it is monitoring new developments in government vaccine policies closely.
TLN pointed out requiring staff to be vaccinated is a difficult decision for the company, which is owned and controlled by immigrants. The company is working hard to be mindful of cultural sensitivities while not undermining operations, said Aldo Di Felice, president of TLN Media Group Inc. Like other companies Cartt.ca reached out to for this story, TLN is still implementing other measures to keep employees safe including rapid testing and a phased return to the office of the 90% of staff who have been working remotely.
Many of the companies Cartt.ca reached out to are essentially in a holding pattern, waiting to see what happens next before finalizing any plans to bring staff working from home back into the office, with some companies including Cogeco indicating they have pushed back previously announced return to office dates. Pelmorex CEO Sam Sebastian indicated in a post on Medium last year the company would, where possible, have staff working from home until August of this year, but a spokesperson has since confirmed the company has not set a date for staff to return to the office yet and likely will not have them return until early 2022.
Stingray also has most of its employees working from home and does not have plans to require employees to return to work in the fall, a spokesperson said.
Blue Ant, Channel Zero and Netflix are all in the process of moving or setting up new offices and have each said they will make more definitive plans around moving their employees into the new spaces in the future, based public health guidelines at the time.
Even when more people do begin returning to offices, it is clear office life for many will never return to what it was in 2019.
Corus, for example, is “approaching this as a moment of positive transformation for our company and our culture,” said a spokesperson. “Going forward as a philosophy, approach, and culture, Corus will embrace flexible, hybrid and remote arrangements, where possible. This means, taking the best learnings of the past year, survey feedback from our team members, and the needs our business, to create a high-performance work environment that continues to serve our business, teams, and our individual people.”
At CBC, most “employees are working remotely and will likely continue doing so until further notice,” a CBC spokesperson said while confirming that “some people will continue to have the option of working from home even after a full “return to normal”.”
Blue Ant is looking to implement a hybrid work model for employees once its new offices open. Decisions around hybrid work “will be made to match Blue Ant’s employees and their clients’ needs,” said Jamie Schouela, president of global channels and media at Blue Ant. “What’s important is that we ensure our collaborative work culture remains intact and that our employees feel supported, whether they work from the office or remote.”
Channel Zero, Cogeco and Eastlink are all also taking a hybrid approach to work arrangements for their employees. “We continue to work with leaders across our functional areas on a hybrid and/or work-from-home environment for those whose roles will not be required to be onsite 100% of time,” an Eastlink spokesperson said.
Several companies including Telus, Bell, Quebecor, Zoomermedia and TekSavvy did not get back to Cartt.ca before deadline. Shaw responded but declined to provide a comment for this story.
Updated August 25:
Bell Media president and CEO Mirko Bibic announced on LinkedIn yesterday the company will require “all Bell employees to be fully vaccinated in order to return to work or visit any Bell workplace this fall.”
Beanfield recently sent out an email to employees announcing it will also require employees to be vaccinated. The company is specifically requiring full vaccinations for all employees who regularly go into Beanfield’s physical workspace, who regularly go to Beanfield’s offsite workplaces on behalf of the company, and who interact in-person with Beanfield employees, clients or customers. Beanfield’s policy is effective October 27. Effective this Friday, employees who are able to work from home who are not fully vaccinated yet must work from home until they are fully vaccinated. Employees are being asked to provide the company with proof of vaccination before they are allowed to regularly enter the office.
Updated August 31:
Telus announced today it is introducing a vaccine policy for all its Canadian team members. “As a world-leading social purpose organization and Canada’s largest Health IT provider, we know that vaccines are the best way to protect our team, our customers, our families and our communities from Covid-19,” a press release says.
As per the policy, all Telus employees and guests will be expected to be fully vaccinated to enter a company administrative building as of October 1. As of October 15, all employees “working outside of their residence in a customer-facing environment such as in retail, health, or as a technician supporting customers must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to at least twice-weekly rapid antigen testing to prove they are Covid-19 negative,” according to the release.
In January 2022, office workers who are fully vaccinated will be “given the opportunity to return to work in a TELUS building on a part or full-time basis, as part of our innovative Work Styles policy that has enabled team members to work when and where they are most effective since 2006. Unvaccinated team members will continue to work from home.”
A Quebecor spokesperson emailed Cartt.ca last Friday and informed us the company does not have return to office plans right now “as the government recently asked business to delay the return of the employees into offices.” Quebecor is still discussing the vaccination passport, the spokesperson said.
