ARCHIVED - Pandemic Influenza Reference Guide for Federal Human Resources Advisors

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1. Preamble

The objective of this reference guide is to provide general information and advice for use by human resources advisors during an influenza pandemic. It is intended for planning purposes and is not specific to a particular viral strain. Additional guidance may be needed as an actual pandemic unfolds and more is known about the characteristics of the virus, such as its virulence, disease transmissibility, clinical manifestation (health effects), drug susceptibility, and associated risks.

An influenza pandemic could result in high employee absenteeism. It could ultimately threaten all critical infrastructures through its impact on an organization's human resources by removing personnel from the workplace for weeks or months. Employees may be absent because they are caring for the ill; are under voluntary home isolation due to an ill household member; are caring for children dismissed from school due to influenza; feel safer at home; or are themselves ill with or incapacitated by the virus.

Continuity and critical infrastructure protection will depend on plans to protect the health of the workforce and plans for business continuity under conditions of staffing shortages.

The information contained in this guide is aligned with the science-based health advice from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), which offers advice to the general public, and with Health Canada's Workplace Health and Public Safety program (WHPSP), which offers occupational health and safety guidance to the Treasury Board as the employer of the core public administration. PHAC'S current advice is that individuals should keep doing what they normally do, but stay home if they are sick. More information is available at Fightflu.ca, and additional guidance will also be posted as the situation evolves.

2. Pandemic Influenza

What is pandemic influenza?

Human influenza, or the flu, is a respiratory infection caused by the influenza virus. The virus spreads through droplets that have been coughed or sneezed into the air by someone who has the flu. One can get the flu by breathing in these droplets through one's nose or mouth, or by the droplets landing directly on one's eyes. One can also contract the virus by shaking hands with infected people who have droplets on their hands or by touching contaminated surfaces and then transferring the virus by touching one's eyes, nose, or mouth.

Pandemic influenza occurs when a new strain of the influenza virus emerges to which a majority of the human population has no immunity. It spreads easily from person to person and can sweep across the country and around the world in a very short time.

3. Business Continuity Planning

Under the Emergency Management Act, ministers must include, in their emergency management plan, any programs, arrangements or other measures to ensure the continuity of the government institution's operations in the event of an emergency; such programs, arrangements or measures are known as Business Continuity Plans (BCP). Departments are accountable under the Treasury Board Policy on Government Security and the Operational Security Standard – Business Continuity Planning Program to develop, implement, test and maintain BCPs to ensure the continued availability of:

1. services and associated assets that are critical to the health, safety, security, or economic well-being of Canadians or the effective functioning of government (unavailability would result in a high degree of injury to Canadians and government); and
2. other services and assets when warranted by a threat and risk assessment.

Business continuity planning is the development and timely execution of plans, measures, procedures and arrangements to ensure that there is minimal or no interruption to the availability of critical services and assets.

Crisis management and business continuity planning encompass a readiness by all stakeholders to deal with crises through awareness. It is therefore important to ensure that your pandemic influenza BCPs are shared with employees who will be required to respond to the situation.

For more information on business continuity planning, please consult your departmental or agency security officer and/or your BCP coordinator.

3.1 Roles and Responsibilities

The following defines the roles and responsibilities of departments and agencies in relation to pandemic issues and the health and safety of employees.

Deputy Heads

The key functions of a Deputy Heads in managing the consequences of an emergency on the public service include the following:

• coordinating and controlling emergency response activities for their department;
• providing a healthy and safe workplace for employees and other responders working for their department;
• managing all human resources issues that may rise in relation to a pandemic in accordance with legislation, policies and collective agreements while considering the enterprise-wide impacts of their decisions;
• establishing and managing administrative mechanisms or facilities necessary to permit their department's emergency response function to be effectively carried out in any region of Canada;
• assessing and determining the loss or damage to departmental and agency resources or facilities resulting from the emergency, and establishing and administering priorities for their repair, replacement, rehabilitation or reactivation;
• assessing and determining departmental and agency resource requirements for an effective response;
• establishing and administering priorities to provide for the effective allocation of services and materiel in short supply within their departments or agencies;
• maintaining delivery of the department's or agency's critical services;
• coordinating with other affected Deputy Heads in responding to requests for emergency assistance;
• communicating with employees within their organization; and
• implementing appropriate security readiness levels, communication strategies and other requirements.

Treasury Board

Under the Financial Administration Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act, Her Majesty in right of Canada as represented by the Treasury Board is the employer for the core public administration (CPA), which consists of the departments named in Schedule I and Schedule IV to the Financial Administration Act. The CPA represents about 190,000 employees, or about 40 percent of the total federal public sector.

In addition to its responsibilities as employer for the CPA, the Treasury Board has wider responsibilities for the public service as a whole by supporting responses to an emergency through the following:

• approving management policies that control the delegation and use of authorities in departments and agencies; and
• providing expenditure authority through approval of Treasury Board submissions.

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS)

As the lead organization responsible for coordinating the horizontal management of an emergency 's consequences on the public service, TBS will do the following:

• supporting the Treasury Board ministers;
• assisting in achieving a clear and common understanding among deputy heads of existing authorities and human resources and financial management laws, regulations, policies, frameworks, procedures and tools as they relate to emergencies in order to support enterprise-wide coherence;
• working collaboratively and effectively with other departments and stakeholders when making human resources and financial management decisions;
• regulating the implementation of emergency human resources and financial management procedures and delegated authorities;
• facilitating the allocation of supplementary funds to cover departmental emergency response and recovery costs;
• identifying, in consultation with departments and agencies, potential expenditure reductions to offset required emergency funding;
• preparing recommended lists of program expenditures that could be postponed for Governor in Council approval;
• drafting instruments seeking emergency appropriations from Parliament;
• proposing administrative arrangements to expedite the implementation of emergency management;
• supporting decision making and reporting across Government by linking resources to results on a whole-of-government basis;
• working in partnership with departments and agencies, and actively monitor them to ensure that the appropriate frameworks and guidelines are being employed to responsibly manage emergencies, and to ensure that departmental and agency staff have the support they need to respond to emergencies in an effective manner; and
• facilitating the horizontal coordination of the response by deputy heads.

Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)

PHAC, under the responsibility of the Minister of Health, has the lead role at the federal level for pandemic influenza planning and response. In this respect, PHAC cooperates with provincial, territorial and local public health authorities on surveillance ("Flu Watch"), vaccination programs, the use of antiviral and other public health measures, and communications. In addition, PHAC provides advice on public health issues relating to all Canadians.

Health Canada's Workplace Health and Public Safety Program (WHPSP)

WHPSP provides a range of services to the core public administration and professional and technical advice to the Treasury Board on occupational health issues in accordance with established service lines. During a pandemic alert, WHPSP will consult with and advise the core public administration, upon request from each department or agency, on health assessments and immunization of specific groups of employees.

Public Safety Canada (PS)

PS provides policy advice and support to the Minister of Public Safety on issues related to public safety and emergency preparedness, including national security, emergency management, policing and law enforcement, interoperability and information sharing, corrections and conditional release, Aboriginal policing, and crime prevention. The Minister's responsibilities with respect to emergency management plans are as follows:

• coordinating the operations of departments and other pertinent organizations during civil emergencies of national significance through the Federal Emergency Response Plan and other mechanisms;
• coordinating a whole-of-government public emergency communications response;
• interact with provincial, territorial and local governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and the international community;
• managing the Government Operations Centre, Canada's strategic-level operations centre;
• clarifying federal policies and approaches on civil emergency management; and
• disseminating the Privy Council Office's decisions specifying the requirement for departmental security officers in departments and agencies to implement a higher readiness level in response to security threats (this is done in accordance with the Operational Security Standard – Readiness Levels for Federal Government Facilities).

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT)

DFAIT is responsible for coordinating Canada's international response (this is a joint responsibility with Public Safety Canada when the international response is a joint Canada–US response), including international efforts to contain the spread of a pandemic virus; communicating with foreign governments and international organizations; and managing foreign offers of assistance. The department is also responsible for providing advice on the security of travelling Canadians and responding to the consular needs of Canadians in distress.

DFAIT is also responsible for the safety and security of Canadian posts, employees of all departments and agencies assigned to posts, and employees hired locally. This responsibility includes contingency planning of security and personal safety procedures to permit a response to potential emergency situations.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada's (HRSDC) Labour Program

Part II of the Canada Labour Code governs occupational health and safety for all areas under federal jurisdiction. Under the Code, employers have a general obligation or duty to ensure that the health and safety of every person employed by the employer is protected while working.

The Code places a number of obligations on employees with regard to the prevention of occupation-related diseases and injuries. Notably, employees have a responsibility to take all reasonable and necessary precautions to ensure their health and safety and that of anyone else who may be affected by their work or activities. The Labour Program, as the regulator, is responsible for determining compliance in situations such as unresolved complaints and refusal to work cases.

3.2 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Based on a risk assessment, public health officials will provide advice on the appropriateness and type of PPE. Health Canada's WHPSP will then issue health advisories providing guidance to the core public administration. Departments, based on these advisories and their internal risk assessment, may decide to provide PPE to their employees according to their operational requirements.

3.3 Staff Monitoring/Risks to Employees

The employer must exercise all reasonable precautionary measures to ensure employees' well-being during an influenza pandemic. If the employer has a reasonable suspicion that an employee is symptomatic of the flu virus, it must act on it and ensure that the other employees are protected from the contagious individual.

3.4 Transportation of Employees Who Become Sick at Work

The employer has an obligation to ensure that all employees have a healthy and safe workplace and must provide for the prompt rendering of first aid to an employee for an injury, an occupational disease or an illness.

Section 16.2 of the National Joint Council's Occupational Safety and Health Directive, Part XVI, states the following: "Where it appears that a physician's attention may be required, the employee shall be promptly referred to a medical treatment facility, and the employer shall ensure that suitable transportation and escort, if required, is arranged. Any ambulance or other transportation costs shall be borne by the employer."

Managers should also consider alternative methods of transportation, such as taxi, family member, or co-worker, to ensure a safe means of transportation for employees who need to return home for an emergency and is not in a condition to drive home alone, or use public transportation safely.

3.5 Work-Related Employee Travel Considerations

Management should review their employees' travel requirements in accordance with Government of Canada notices to travellers that may be issued with respect to an influenza pandemic.

Managers and employees should consult Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada's Travel Reports and Warnings to find out about health, safety, security conditions, and entry requirements for the country or countries of destination.

Travellers should also consult the Public Health Agency of Canada for its Travel Health information, including personal protective measures and locations of travel medicine clinics.

3.6 Security of Employees and Information

In the event of an emergency, including an information technology incident, a prompt coordination of actions could be necessary to protect the health, safety or welfare of individuals, or to limit damage to assets or the environment.

During a pandemic, additional provisions may have to be made to prevent unauthorized access to the workplace in order to ensure the security and protection of employees, and protected and classified information.

For more information, please consult the Policy on Government Security.

3.7 Emergency Response/Risk Communication

Sound and thorough risk communication planning can assist decision makers in preventing ineffective, fear-driven and potentially damaging public and employee response to incidents or emergency situations. During an emergency, it is essential to ensure that employees know where to obtain information and that it is appropriate and timely.

Risk communications planning should be included in business continuity plans to identify a centralized communications centre and to provide accurate, consistent, comprehensive, and timely information about the influenza pandemic.

For more information on communications, including awareness campaigns, please consult your department or agency's communications or public affairs branch.

4. Health and Safety-Related Complaints/Refusal to Work

Employers, under Part II of the Canada Labour Code and the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, are responsible for ensuring the health and safety of their employees, and must make them aware of every known or foreseeable health and safety hazard in the workplace.

It is very important that employers and employees follow the required procedures in handling complaints related to health and safety and/or refusal to work cases. Open communication should be at the forefront between managers, employees and bargaining agents to share information and to manage, and possibly minimize, cases of refusal to work.

In the event that a worker makes a complaint or refuses to work because of a perceived workplace hazard, the employer and the employee who made the complaint or exercised the right to refuse must attempt to resolve the matter internally, which may include a health and safety committee member or representative. If a complaint or refusal to work cannot be resolved by these parties, the Labour Program of Human Resources and Social Development Canada must be informed. In such situations, a Labour Program health and safety officer will investigate and issue a decision.

Further information about your duties and obligations and the procedures to follow in handling complaints related to health and safety or refusals to work can be found on the Labour Program's Health and Safety Web page. Other information of interest can be found on the Labour Program's H1N1 Flu Virus, Public Safety Canada's SafeCanada.ca, and the Public Health Agency of Canada Pandemic Plans Web pages.

5. Delegation of Authority

Departments are to ensure that employees deemed critical have all the relevant authorities delegated to them.

6. Staffing and Replenishing the Workforce

Under the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), several options exist to facilitate the speedy staffing of positions in response to an emergency, as outlined below.

• Exclusion Approval Order (EAO) could be sought in extreme situations: Where it decides that it is not practicable or in the best interest of the public to apply the PSEA, the Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC), with the approval of the Governor in Council, can exclude persons or positions or classes of positions from the application of the PSEA or some of its provisions. The EAO allows for a tailored approach; however, even if the PSC accelerates the process, it will take time for the EAO to be prepared and approved. Alternatively, the PSC could create an anticipatory EAO based on emergency response requirements.
• Casual appointments: Casual appointments allow managers to hire individuals quickly to meet operational needs. These appointments are not subject to merit, area of selection or recourse. Casual employment periods may not exceed 90 working days in one calendar year in any single federal organization.
• External non-advertised appointment: External non-advertised appointment processes could be used to hire persons from outside the public service. In using this staffing option, the hiring manager must provide a written rationale demonstrating how a non-advertised process meets established criteria and the appointment values. In this case, the organization should already have included in its policies the use of non-advertised appointment processes for emergency situations. Please also note that this type of appointment is subject to merit and area of selection.
• Contingent employment options internal to the public service: Internal acting appointments and secondments are viable options to temporarily fill positions on a fairly rapid basis. The use of acting appointments, secondments, deployments or assignments is an effective ways to address gaps when adequate resources exist elsewhere within the government. Secondments, deployments and assignments are subject to employer policies.

For more information on staffing, please consult the Public Service Commission of Canada's HR -Toolbox and the Treasury Board Secretariat's Employment Policies.

There are also options outside the scope of the PSEA:

• Interchange Canada program: Another option to bring in someone from outside the public service is through the Interchange Canada program. This employer program does not fall under the PSEA. You can consult the Interchange Canada Policy and the Directive on Interchange Canada for more information
• Contracting personnel: Contracting for temporary help services allows managers to obtain services from outside the public service quickly to meet operational needs. Business Continuity Plans should include provisions for contract personnel, since the organization is responsible for the health and safety of such personnel while on the organization's premises. The organization may make arrangements for contract personnel to complete contracts in an alternative location or cancel the contract in the event that it cannot be fulfilled.

For more information, please consult Contracting - Policies and Publications.

6.1 Mobility of Staff

In the event of an emergency, employees may be required to perform a mix of duties other than their normal day-to-day duties or duties they have not been previously called upon to perform, or to perform duties in another geographical location (city or office).

The employer has the right to assign duties and to direct the workforce. Unless there is a specific prohibition of a management action (e.g. a collective agreement or a statute specifies a limitation), the employer retains the right to assign duties as it deems necessary.

Every step should be taken, however, to ensure that, where employees are being asked to perform a task, they are properly trained to perform the assigned duties, delegated appropriate authority, provided with the appropriate personal protective equipment (if applicable), not put at undue risk and adequately compensated if the reassigned duties are at a higher classification.

For more information, please consult the Financial Administration Act and the appropriate collective agreement.

6.2 Alternative Work Arrangements/Telework

Decisions concerning alternative work arrangements should be made in accordance with, and should be compatible with, the departmental or agency Business Continuity Plan and the Telework Policy.

Should access to the workplace be prohibited or discouraged, managers should identify the issues and projects that urgently need to be dealt with and the work that employees can most easily complete off-site.

Since there may be limitations to the capacity of the organization's information system to accommodate all staff, employees should be encouraged, wherever possible, to use remote access during off-peak hours and, once they have downloaded their messages, to work off-line to enable as many people as possible to have access to the system.

7. Leave Provisions

Collective agreements, the Directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment and the Directive on Leave and Special Working Arrangements contain provisions for all types of leave, including sick leave, leave with pay for family-related responsibilities, other leave with or without pay. Collective agreements also contain a provision for leave with or without pay for other reasons to enable the employer to deal with situations not covered by other leave provisions.

In addition, most collective agreements and the Directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment and the Directive on Leave and Special Working Arrangements provide for the advance of sick leave credits where the employee has insufficient sick leave credits to cover a short-term leave of absence due to illness or disability. In the event that employees do not have leave credits available, they can apply for Employment Insurance sick benefits.

Note: A consistent approach should be used to ensure fair and equitable treatment.

7.1 Office Closure

In the event that the employer temporarily closes offices due to an influenza pandemic, all affected employees (including casuals and students) should continue to be paid for their regularly scheduled hours of work during the period of these office closures. This does not apply to contractual staff employed through agencies. Employees in acting situations at the time of the office closures continue to be paid at their acting level.

Employees are not required to submit leave forms for periods when management has suspended normal business operations. These employees are deemed to be on time off with pay. Employees should be advised to keep their manager informed of means of contacting them, as employees may be required to work at alternate work sites and/or at home, if appropriate.

For more information, please consult Collective Agreements, the Directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment and the Directive on Leave and Special Working Arrangements.

7.2 Volunteerism

Persons from outside the public service:

There are significant numbers of people who provide services to the public on a voluntary basis. Volunteers are not employees. They perform services through something other than an employee-employer relationship. Individuals who perform volunteer services for the public are not paid a salary and are not eligible for coverage under public service employee health care plans or benefits.

For more information, including insurance coverage, please consult the Volunteers Policy.

Public servants:

During an influenza pandemic, public servants may ask for time off to provide volunteer services. In such cases, employees should be on authorized leave with or without pay. It is critical to make sure that employees are excused from their regular work and that they are not working in any capacity for the employer while performing a volunteer function. It is essential that the status of individuals performing a volunteer function for the public be made clear. They should know what insurance coverage they are entitled to with respect to disability or death.

For more information, please consult the Risk Management Policy.

8. Return to Work

Generally, the treating or family physician is responsible for deciding when an employee can return to work. Public health officials will also give advice on working, returning to work and social distancing that the physician will consider in making the decision. However, consideration must be given to the fact that physicians will be overwhelmed during an influenza pandemic and, therefore, may not be available to provide return-to-work medical certificates. Also, especially in the event of a mild or moderate illness, some employees may choose not to see their physicians, or, even if they do, might not be tested for the particular strain of the pandemic flu virus.

Although management has a general right to request a return-to-work medical certificate, in a pandemic situation, managers are encouraged, in consultation with employees, to determine a time frame for returning to work without the need for a medical certificate.

Note: A supervisor or manager may require a return-to-work medical certificate if the job requires an employee to be in a certain physical condition to perform his or her tasks adequately or for other reasons deemed appropriate.

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