A national Sikh advocacy organization said it is ready to take the city of Toronto to the provincial human rights court if a reasonable ruling cannot be reached on its so-called “clean shaving” policy.
According to the Toronto masking warrant, which the city most recently updated on June 22, all shelter staff for homeless people and similar environments who come in contact with customers suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 or those working in environments where there is a suspicion or The declared outbreak of the virus should wear an N95 respirator.
These masks, which need good sealing around the nose and mouth, cannot be properly adjusted on people with beards.
Workers who are unable to comply with this directive due to beliefs, religious beliefs, practices or observations have the option to meet with their supervisor / manager to explore other accommodations.
Balpreet Singh, of the Ottawa-based Sikh World Organization (WSO) of Canada, said this “unfair and unnecessary” policy has led to the dismissal or reassignment of more than 100 hired security guards, as well. that his faith demands that his hair or beard not be cut or shaved.
“These transfers often come with a degradation of both rank and salary. In many cases, people who had been hired as supervisors or managers have been demoted to security guards,” WSO said in a July 4 statement.
The group wants the city to review the policy and reinstate the affected workers.
“It has wreaked havoc on the lives of these security guards,” said Singh, who serves as WSO’s spokesman and legal adviser.
“It simply came to our notice then. … The solution is not to shave, it is to realize that this rule is not necessary ”.
Singh, who last month wrote to Mayor John Tory and all City Council members to demand an “urgent resolution” of this issue, said the vast majority of the time security guards can do the his job safely using a medical mask, but he said there may be “some very rare situations” where this is not possible and this is understandable.
“But expelling more than 100 guards is not the right way to do it,” he said, adding that these workers “served during the heyday of the COVID pandemic with medical masks and should not be well shaved “.
“The new rules of clean shaving have been introduced at a time when visitors to places in the city no longer have to be masked. The requirement of clean shaving is also not being met for the staff and workers of the city sites, ”WSO said in a statement.
Speaking to CP24 on Monday evening, Singh said he does not want to follow the legal route, but his group has the option of taking the city to the Human Rights Court if it does not fix the situation.
“These security guards really feel like they have been used and abused, and they are now being discarded as if they were rubbish,” Singh said. “I mean, they worked to the high point of the pandemic when their lives were really at risk. And now, there has been no attempt to accommodate them in any way.”
In a statement, Toronto City spokesman Brad Ross said a possible N95 mask housing is a complete respiratory device, “but City Occupational Health and Safety has advised that it is not suitable for guard use. security due to hearing and visibility restrictions “.
“Like City staff, then, contractors must house their employees in another workplace, if, for religious reasons, they cannot shave completely,” he said, noting that the city is in the process of “reviewing the matter and consulting with contractors.”
NPD federal leader Jagmeet Singh called the policy “discriminatory” in a tweet.
“Many of these same people served us during the heyday of the COVID pandemic. They deserve to be reinstated immediately,” Singh tweeted.
In March 2020, bearded Sikh RCMP officers were banned from performing front-line police duties, as the organization required that all officers wear N95 masks. They were allowed to return to service in October 2020 after the WHO defended them on their behalf.