Photo by BRRT from Pixabay Unionized employees terminated for cause from their jobs can – and often do – ask their unions to grieve the termination. A termination for cause means the employer has grounds (cause) to terminate the employee. This is different from a termination without cause. After filing the grievance, an arbitration process […]
Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault in the Workplace: Is this Something New?
There has been a great deal of attention in the media lately about allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace. The current “#MeToo Movement” was thought to have started after public accusations of sexual misconduct by former American film producer Harvey Weinstein. The hashtag #MeToo actually developed from the term “Me Too” […]
Constructive Dismissal Still Under Construction
“constructive dismissal can [occur when]… a series of acts that, taken together, show that the employer intended to no longer be bound by the contract.” – Potter v. New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission [2015] 1 SCR 500 http://canlii.ca/t/ggkhh Introduction Constructive dismissal was revisited by the Supreme Court of Canada last year in the case […]
Termination for Insolence
We hear that “attitude is everything”, and nowhere is this more important than at work. Consider whether the employee’s attitude below should be enough to justify his firing. Henry, 31, had been working for seven and a half years as an auto body repair technician at the Fox Ford dealership in Woodstock, New Brunswick. He […]
Canadian Unions: From Repression and Resistance to the Right to Strike
The history of Canadian unions is a long and storied one. The Canadian labour movement of the past was a fusion of many disparate groups, often at odds with one another. For many years, the law was inhospitable to unions, with the balance tilted in favour of employers and government. Since the mid-twentieth century, trade […]
Job Candidates Deserve Fair Treatment of Their Applications
I have applied for many jobs in both the private and public sectors in Canada. Some were full-time, most were part-time. Several employers follow a long, drawn-out application process involving several phases: asking for numerous personal and work experience referees;written examinations; telephone calls; and occasionally requiring flights out of province or drives to other cities […]
Reinstatement
Introduction Many Canadians will remember the case of Lynden Dorval, the Edmonton public school teacher, who was fired by his school board for dispensing marks of zero to students who did not do their assignments. Recently the case reached the Alberta Court of Appeal on the question of whether Mr. Dorval should be reinstated to […]
The Law of Leafleting and Picketing
Introduction Distributing leaflets to people and picketing are longstanding forms of employee expression, commonly to protest or draw attention to employment disputes. Primary picketing is attending at a place of business or employment with an object of persuasion, usually to dissuade others from entering or doing business at that place. Secondary picketing is doing the […]
How Bad Behaviour? Employees Getting Away With . . .
Introduction The last column discussed the need for employers to practice progressive discipline. That concept means employees should be fired – that is, summarily dismissed without notice or pay – as a last resort and only where clearly justified. In this column, we look at some decisions which demonstrate how hard it can be to […]
New Employment Law Resources for Alberta Youth
Many new Canadians are unfamiliar with the legislation that protects them in the workplace. Research indicates that immigrants with limited English speaking abilities often turn to their children to act as intermediaries to pass on information, including legal information. By developing resources for youth, the youth will learn about human rights law and then will […]
