33 City of Windsor employees returning after getting fired for not disclosing vaccination status

Windsor city hall in Windsor, Ont., on March 25, 2020. (Rich Garton / CTV Windsor)

The City of Windsor has released updated statistics of the number of employees who have returned to work after the city revoked its COVID-19 vaccine policy.

Executive director of human resources Dana Paladino, says out of the 67 workers who were sent a letter, 33 accepted to return to work. That’s up from 18 reported on Jan. 3.

Nine have declined, which is an increase from the four reported on Jan. 3. A decision for one employee is still pending.

That makes a total of 43 employees.

Paladino believes some of the remaining workers were employees who didn’t bother to disclose their vaccine status.

“Some might have been students in a temporary position in areas like recreation who were not planning to return,” says Paladino.

The offer letters were open until Jan. 11, 2023. The workers will be rehired with their seniority intact and engage in a “bumping” process, added Paladino.

Paladino confirms no existing employees will lose their jobs due to that bumping process.

In November 2022, council unanimously passed a resolution to revoke its vaccine mandate, clearing the way to hire workers back.

In December, the city reached out to those impacted and began initiating conversations with their unions to have the employees return to work.