Your digest

January 8, 2021

We want to make it easy for employees to access the latest from Canadian Blood Services.  Every Tuesday and Friday, we will be bringing you important COVID-19 updates along with valuable information and inspiring stories about other parts of our operations.

We know things are rapidly changing; please remember you can always reach out to communications@blood.ca with your questions and suggestions on how we can better help employees.

Here is the latest.

See past digests

Monday — surgical masks required in administrative environments: To more closely align with public health guidance and better protect against the spread of COVID-19, Canadian Blood Services supplied surgical masks will be mandatory in our administrative environments on Mon. Jan. 11. When employees enter our sites, surgical masks will be provided at the wellness checkpoint. By exception only, Canadian Blood Services supplied three-layer cloth masks are available for employees who have indicated to their manager that they are unable to wear a surgical mask. You are reminded that masks are mandatory at all times unless you are at an individual workstation that is not shared by others or you are eating in the designated break areas and are following physical distancing protocols. Visit your COVID-19 portal to learn more. 

New respectful workplace training now available:  To support our work on diversity, equity and inclusion, this week we launched respectful workplace eLearning training for all employees. We want to ensure that all employees feel they belong and are safe to come to the workplace; and we all play a role in creating an equitable and inclusive environment for our colleagues. In the training, you will learn about preventing violence and harassment and fostering respect at work; and preventing discrimination and upholding human rights in the workplace. Employees can access the training by logging on to learning management systems (LMS) — SuccessFactors and Dualcode ― in MyApps on Connect. Employees are expected to complete this training by March 31, 2021. Learn more on Connect.

When you will be notified if you may have been exposed to COVID-19 onsite: Following public health guidance, our integrated case management task force initiates an investigation when a confirmed report of COVID-19 involving an employee, volunteer, donor, or third party contractor is received; and the date of symptom onset or date of testing is within 48 hours of that individual being in one of our environments. Employees who may have been exposed will be contacted. When testing or symptom onset is beyond this 48-hour period, communications to employees, volunteers, donors and third-party contactors are not conducted as per public health guidance. Employees will only be contacted by Canadian Blood Services and/or public health should you meet public health criteria for exposure. Learn more about how we manage positive cases of COVID-19 on Connect.

Question of the day: Will Canadian Blood Services be issuing T2200 forms for employees who have been working from home?

As a result of COVID-19, many people have been working at home and using their kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms as their workspace. In response, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has introduced an option to use a new temporary flat rate method to simplify claiming the deduction for home office expenses for the 2020 tax year.

The new temporary flat rate method simplifies your claim for home office expenses. You are eligible to use this new method if you worked more than 50% of the time from home for a period of at least four consecutive weeks in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can claim $2 for each day you worked from home during that period plus any additional days you worked at home in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maximum you can claim using the new temporary flat rate method is $400 (200 working days) per individual.

By using the simplified method, no T2200 would be required to claim expenses related to COVID-19 working from home.  For more information, please click Working From Home - CRA Guidelines

 

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About your digest

This digest will highlight the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content like articles and videos to remind us that what we do matters.  No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required.     

Click here to read past editions of your digest.     

Have questions? Check out blood.ca/employees or email us at communications@blood.ca