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In 41 years of practice, I have never encountered this degree of palpable fear. It’s no longer just fear of COVID-19, as economic fear may have become even more pronounced.

Canadian businesses have ground to an unparalleled halt with most employees sent home to work — or just sent home. With no business, employers are concerned about meeting their financial obligations and even surviving.

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To the extent employers are imperilled, employees are even more so. Anticipating the depth of the problem, many employers are already turning to layoffs as well as outright dismissals of employees. Given the depth of this economic dislocation, it will be difficult for workers to find other forms of employment. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s initiatives, helpful as many are, barely address the depths of this dilemma.

In 41 years of practice, I have never encountered this degree of palpable fear

Many employers will find that working from home, for many jobs, is not feasible and provides comparatively limited economic benefit. But with employers exposed to potential massive litigation by anyone who contracts the virus in their workplace if they fail to take appropriate steps to keep it virus-free, employers are concerned about letting employees, as well as customers and the public, into their offices.