Dear Staff,
PEO has been providing updates as the COVID-19 situation evolves. Our focus and priority continues to be the health and safety of our staff, as well as our volunteers and others who engage with us as applicants, licence holders and members of the public.
As you are aware, under the current State of Emergency and Stay-at-Home order, which is in effect until at least May 20th, 2021, all Ontarians are required to remain at home as much as possible. All employers are required to limit in-office attendance to those who simply cannot work from home. Any requested visits to the office should be carefully assessed by staff, their manager, and Human Resources, to ensure that the office visit is absolutely necessary to perform the essential functions of the job, is unavoidable, and therefore cannot be delayed until a future date.
The situation with the pandemic and with the pace of vaccinations is fluid. At this point we do not know when we will be able to resume even limited visits to the office, let alone a full return. Regardless, I have decided as CEO/Registrar that PEO should not plan to host any in-person, face-to-face meetings for the remainder of 2021. In particular, this includes Council and committee meetings as well as in-person meetings with those seeking licensure.
We hope this provides guidance for planning of meetings and events. There is much uncertainty remaining about how long the effects of the pandemic will persist, but I am confident that we can navigate through the challenges together, as we have done since March 2020. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask me, your manager or your HR business partner.
Kindest regards.
Johnny