The City of Windsor has offered 67 former employees fired for not complying with its mandatory COVID-19 vaccine mandate their old jobs back.
They're among the 84 workers terminated from their positions one year ago.
So far, 18 have agreed to return. Just four have declined the offer.
Acting Executive Director of Human Resources Dana Paladino told WindsorNewsToday.ca not all of them got a letter.
"Some have grieved it [the termination]. We have either settled that grievance or are in the midst of negotiating a settlement," she said. "There are some individuals -- their positions have been filled, and because they're not governed by a collective agreement, they don't have any rights to bump that person."
Others didn't receive a letter because "we have cause to not hire them unrelated to the vaccine mandate."
More than half of those fired were part-time workers in the recreation department, but a substantial number were full-time employees working at Huron Lodge, the information and technology department, employment and social services, Windsor Fire and Rescue, and Transit Windsor.
The policy, and subsequent terminations, sparked a lawsuit against the city. Toronto lawyer Courtney Betty took up the case last summer, alleging Windsor acted outside provincial guidelines and violated the plaintiffs' constitutional rights. The suit is ongoing.
The city sent most of the letters to full-time workers on December 15, and they had until December 23 to respond. Part-time workers need to respond by January 11.
The city adopted its mandatory vaccine policy in September 2021, at the height of the pandemic. Employees had until January to prove they'd had the first dose of the vaccine, and February 1, 2022, to submit documents indicating they'd had the second.
Ultimately, 97.1 per cent of the city's 3,500 employees complied with the policy.
Windsor City Council voted to end the mandate last November.