As province reopens, workers with health conditions on edge
Immunocompromised employees need money but worry about getting COVID-19
France D’auteuil loves her job cooking for the children at a Regina daycare. The kids and her dozen colleagues are “family” for the woman who doesn’t have extended family in Saskatchewan.
But, as much as she wants to get back to work, she is afraid to return while COVID -19 is still rampant.
D’auteuil has had Type 1 diabetes since she was a child.
“I’m not a lazy woman; I love my job,” said D’auteuil. “I’m just scared ... to have the virus. Because I don’t want to be dead.”
She is concerned about her pre-existing health condition putting her at extra risk. She is also concerned her job might not be there for her to return to, if she decides she can’t work until there’s a vaccine.
“We know that many individuals ... are at a documented higher risk for infection, and here I’m most often talking about pneumonia, influenza, and that’s why we recommend vaccines for people with diabetes,” said Seema Nagpal, vice-president of Science and Policy with Diabetes Canada.
“And we know that in the past, diabetes was a risk factor in the H1N1 epidemic and in the SARS epidemic,” and data showed that “people with diabetes experienced those infections at a higher rate,” added Nagpal.
To D’auteuil’s latter point, Nagpal said Diabetes Canada has heard from many people also concerned about whether they could return to work, and how.
“It’s impossible to make blanket statements. Again, it’s kind of an individual assessment,” said Nagpal. “If that particular employee and their health-care provider have deemed that that individual is at a higher risk because of their diabetes and associated conditions, then we ask employers to make appropriate accommodations.”
Erin Kuan, of the Lung Association of Saskatchewan, agreed.
“It starts with a conversation with the employee and employer and if someone has concerns, to chat with their employer and understand what measures can you put in place,” said Kuan, whose organization’s stakeholders include people with compromised health, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The provincial government’s Re-open Saskatchewan plan has some “really great guidelines,” Kuan added.
It includes pages of general advice — as well as specifics for various industries — about preventing COVID-19’S spread at work and keeping employees informed about policies and safety measures.
“The employer having a plan that they communicate to employees is key,” said Kuan.
The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code outlines employers’ legal duty to accommodate workers who have a disability, including “infirmity.”
The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission has a phone line for employers(306-933-8274) with questions about sick employees, disability and accommodation.
In a letter to employers on its website, Diabetes Canada “encourages
employers to make reasonable accommodations.”
“Many people who live with diabetes are at greater risk of developing a more severe form of the disease once infected. They are more likely to require hospitalization and there is a two-fold increase in incidence of patients with diabetes requiring intensive care for COVID -19.”
WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR VULNERABLE PEOPLE?
The federal government’s employment insurance benefits (including an EI sickness benefit) provide up to 15 weeks of financial assistance, up to 55 per cent of your earnings. The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was created due to temporary unemployment amid the pandemic, and provides $500 per week for up to 16 weeks.
In March, the provincial government amended the Saskatchewan Employment Act to provide protected leave (unpaid) during a public health emergency, per the province’s chief medical health officer.
On April 30, the province announced a temporary wage supplement of $400 per month for workers at shelters and various care facilities earning $2,500 or less. Administered through the Ministry of Finance, it caps at 16 weeks and expires July 4. The wage supplement is not connected to the emergency leave, nor is it related to an employee’s health condition.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, “As for employees with a pre-existing health condition, employees and employers should work together to ensure that the working environment for the employee is safe. The steps taken by the employer and employee will be situational-based, according to the needs of the employee’s health condition, and the environment they work in. They may also in some instance qualify for the unpaid public health emergency leave.”
D’auteuil says she feels caught between a rock and a hard place.
“I don’t want to take the chance, you know? That’s why. But I need money to live.”
She added, “The problem is not my job; it’s the things they’ve said. … Everybody told us, we are vulnerable like old people” given a chronic illness.
Nagpal pointed out, people with diabetes can have medication costs on top of regular costs of living.
“People shouldn’t have to choose between their medications and paying rent, or their medications and putting food on the table. So those statements are true all of the time, but especially true in circumstances where a person is facing extraordinary and unpredicted financial challenges,” said Nagpal.
In the 47-page Re-open Saskatchewan plan, there are two mentions of chronically ill people.
During all five phases, the government recommends “protective measures for vulnerable populations.”
It further states, “Vulnerable individuals, such as seniors and those with underlying health conditions, should continue to exercise caution and minimize high-risk exposures, such as public outings.”
In a recent COVID-19 daily update, Health Minister Jim Reiter couldn’t answer a question about job security for health-compromised people.
Despite recommended precautions in the workplace, D’auteuil questions how she’ll be able to protect herself completely.
Working in the kitchen of a daycare that has dozens of children, located within a school, she said she gets the flu a couple of times per year.
“I know you wash your hands, you put a mask (on), I know all that stuff, but me, I’m washing the spoons, the knives, the plates,” every dish the children touch, said D’auteuil, adding she doesn’t believe it will be possible to “two-metre distance.”