FILE PHOTO: TD Bank, CIBC and Bank of Montreal are seen in the financial district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 24, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo
August 20, 2021
By Nichola Saminather
TORONTO (Reuters) -Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) will require employees entering their premises to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 from this fall, according to company memos shared with Reuters on Friday.
The moves follow a similar measure announced to staff by Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) on Thursday as companies battle the spread of the coronavirus in their offices.
All TD employees entering its buildings will be required to be vaccinated from Nov. 1 and will be asked to register their vaccination status by Sept. 30, according to a memo from TD’s Chief Human Resources Officer Ken Lalonde seen by Reuters on Friday.
BMO and CIBC also informed staff that eligible North American employees would be required to get vaccinated by Oct. 31.
Bank of Nova Scotia is requiring employees to participate in a vaccination status survey and is “moving in the direction of making vaccinations mandatory” for all employees and contractors based in Canada later in the fall, Chief Human Resources Officer Barb Mason told staff on Friday.
BMO employees and contractors must complete a new vaccine status survey by Sept. 8, with those remaining unvaccinated required to undergo twice-weekly testing and take alternative health and safety measures to enter the bank’s locations, according to a message from Chief Human Resources Officer Mona Malone.
TD will require additional protocols, including the completion of a learning module about the benefits of vaccination and mandatory rapid testing and a face covering for staff who are not fully vaccinated or have not disclosed their vaccination status.
CIBC staff already on site can continue to work as they have, but “if you haven’t been vaccinated and are able, now is the time,” human resources chief Sandy Sharman said in an internal blog.
RBC will also require all employees to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 31 to work in its locations, according to an internal note from Chief Human Resources Officer Helena Gottschling to global employees on Thursday.
Employees, starting in Canada and the United States and followed by other regions where applicable, will be asked to confirm their vaccination status, she said.
Similar steps have also been taken by U.S. counterparts, including Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley requiring staff entering their New York headquarters to be vaccinated. Bank of America Corp has said it will allow only vaccinated staff to return to its offices in early September.
Canada said this week it will require all federal public servants, employees in the federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors, as well as air, train and cruise ship travelers to be vaccinated.
Sun Life Financial has been requiring employees to be fully vaccinated if they choose to work from an office as part of its re-opening pilot, according to guidance from Canada’s second-biggest life insurer.
A spokesperson for National Bank of Canada said the lender had nothing to add at this time.
(Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Editing by David Holmes and Dan Grebler)
Source: One America News Network
