Navigating Disability Accommodation Requests: Balancing Privacy and Information

Accommodating employees with disabilities and medical issues is an integral part of creating an inclusive and equitable workplace. But what should an employer do if they receive a request for accommodation that does not provide enough information? How can we balance an employee’s right to privacy with an employer’s need for sufficient information to assess an accommodation request?

Navigating Disability Accommodation Requests: Balancing Privacy and Information

What is the duty to accommodate? 

Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, employers have a legal duty to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. This duty has both a procedural and a substantive component. This means that both the procedure used to assess the accommodation and the actual substance of the accommodation provided are important for employers to fulfill their duty. 

However, the duty to accommodate is not absolute. Employers must accommodate to the point of undue hardship. Employers do not need to provide an accommodation if it would cause undue or excessive hardship, such as onerous costs or health and safety risks. 

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Practical Tips and Tricks for Navigating the Arbitration Process 

This is the third entry in our blog that focuses on the topic of labour law. In case you missed it, you can find the first entry here and the second entry here. In this blog, our focus is to share Practical Tips for Arbitration Navigation.

I’ve Just received a Notice of Arbitration: Is it time to Panic?

The short answer to whether you should panic is: no. It’s important to understand, especially if you’re just beginning your labour journey, that arbitration shouldn’t be feared. However, it is important to carefully consider and understand the process and potential outcomes of proceeding to arbitration.

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Bring your Pet-to-Work Policies – The Do’s, the Don’ts, and the Cautionary Notes

If you’ve ever explored SpringLaw’s Teams’ Bios, it’s no secret that we are huge pet lovers over here! And, being a virtual law firm, we are lucky enough to work with our furry friends daily. For workplaces that are in-office or hybrid, we have seen various workplaces try to replicate this joy by introducing pet-friendly policies to allow employees to bring their pets to work. For animal lovers, the benefits of bringing your pet to work days may be obvious including improved morale, reduced stress, and even increased productivity. However, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies for all employees and if you’re thinking about rolling out a Pet Policy at your workplace, there are some very important legal factors to consider before doing so.  

Pet Policy at your workplace

Is your workspace appropriate for animals?

First and foremost, you need to determine if your workspace is pet-friendly. Generally, a smaller office setting works great for pets and can limit the number of pets onsite at once. A larger organization, with a larger workforce and bigger office space, may not be realistic if all employees who want to bring their pets to work, actually do so. Also, bringing a pet to a factory, construction site, or other non-office workspaces can cause serious hazards and would not be an appropriate workspace for a Pet Policy. 

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Don’t Lose Your Enforceable Termination Clause to the Substratum Doctrine

If you’re an employer or HR representative well-acquainted with the realm of employment law blogs, you’ve undoubtedly encountered a myriad of cautionary tales about the perils of contracting errors.  The blogs about this topic are countless – and for good reason! The significance of getting contracts right cannot be overstated, as a single mistake could potentially lead to substantial liabilities for your organization. An omitted phrase or a misused word within a termination clause could be the deciding factor between an 8-week statutory notice obligation and a hefty 24-month damages award.

The significance of getting contracts right

However, let’s assume that you’ve taken every precaution. You’ve carefully reviewed your contracts, consulted legal experts, and you’re confident that your termination clauses are impeccably drafted. Is there still a risk that a court would refuse to enforce that termination clause?  The answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, is yes.  Even with meticulous drafting, there’s a legal principle that could potentially invalidate your termination clause – the Substratum Doctrine.

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Employers Can Create Win-Win Scenarios by Facilitating Re-employment for Ex-Employees

Common Law Notice 

Upon termination of employment, if an employee’s contractual entitlements are not nailed down in an up-to-date and enforceable employment contract, the employee is likely entitled to common law reasonable notice (or pay in lieu of notice) of termination. Even if an employee’s entitlements are set out in an employment contract, it is common these days for employees, on the advice of employment law counsel, to claim that some of the contract’s termination-related provisions are not Waksdale-proof, and are therefore unenforceable. (We discuss how employers can make their contracts Waksdale-proof in this blog, and best practices for rolling out updated contracts in this blog). Under both scenarios, any path to resolution will start with an assessment of the common law notice period.  

Employers Facilitating an Ex-Employee’s Re-Employment Create a Win-Win Scenario

Courts consider several factors in determining an employee’s common law notice period (i.e. the number of weeks or months of pay to bridge the employee until their next role). The primary factors are known as the Bardal factors: 

  1. the employee’s age; 
  2. their length of service; 
  3. the character of their employment (i.e. the seniority/level of responsibility of their role); and 
  4. the likelihood of finding comparable employment (i.e. an assessment of the job market). 

A simple way to understand the common law notice period is to conduct a thoughtful and informed analysis of how long it will take the employee to re-employ in a comparable role. 

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Thinking of Implementing a Four-Day Workweek? Be Mindful of the Potential Legal Implications

In this current work climate, it’s all about work-life balance. Employees know what they want and if it’s not being offered at one job, they will search for it elsewhere. This has employers scrambling to offer higher salaries, greater benefits, hybrid or remote work options, or even four-day work weeks to keep up with the competitive job market. All these perks seem fine and dandy to attract employees but if you’re considering a shift to a four-day workweek, it’s important to know the legal implications this could impose.

Legal Implications of Implementing a Four-Day Workweek?

How do Four-Day Workweeks Work?

Four-day workweeks can be implemented in different ways depending on the nature of your business. Typically, employees work their same (8-hour) workdays but only four days a week, meaning they are only working 32-hour workweeks, while still receiving the same pay and benefits. Alternatively, some businesses have changed their daily working hours to 10-hour days but only four days a week, amounting to a usual 40-hour workweek. Another tactic is employees agreeing to a reduced-hour workweek while also reducing their pay to compensate for the difference.

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