Canadian Employment Law Today

PM41261516 B.C. worker sent home but failure to check in was resignation PG.4 Worker called in after prior incidents, but this time he requested record of employment BY JEFFREY R. SMITH A FEDERALLY regulated company did not construc- tively dismiss an employee who took exception to his performance reviews and a performance improve- ment plan, an adjudicator has ruled. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) is a mari- time classification society that develops and verifies standards for marine and offshore assets. Based in Houston, the company has Canadian offices in St. John's, Halifax, Quebec City and Vancouver. In 2007, ABS hired Dan Zetea to be a senior sur- veyor — a job involving the examination of vessels and marine equipment along with the preparation of reports. Zetea worked closely with clients and moni- tored the work of subordinate surveyors. Zetea's 2016 performance review indicated he was meeting expectations but there were areas for im- provement — mentoring junior surveyors, communi- cate better with clients and take a larger role in review- ing reports and replying to client inquiries. On Sept. 17, 2017, Zetea received a warning letter. The letter referred to the fact that Zetea hadn't obtained COVID-19 and the modified workplace: Meeting and exceeding the law Best practices and compliance for bringing workers back after the pandemic BY RISHI BANDHU WITH LITTLE promise of a vaccine in the immediate future, the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19 is here to stay. For the foreseeable future, commercial activity must focus on containment. Clearly, the workplace needs to change and employers of all sizes must lead. This is not sim- ply about moral or competitive leadership. Em- ployers that fail to take reasonable measures to contain the coronavirus may face prosecution and liability. Irrespective of jurisdiction, Canadian occupa- tional health and safety (OHS) legislation creates overarching obligations to take every precaution, reasonable in the circumstances, for the protec- tion of workers. The fact that the coronavirus spreads through human contact and is easily killed by household disinfectants are key deter- June 17, 2020 Terminations and COVID-19: What employers and employees need to know PG.3 Employers have had to balance their business needs and legal obligations for termination during pandemic PANDEMIC on page 6 » CREDIT: KHOSRORK iSTOCK EMPLOYEE FELT on page 7 » with Colin Gibson Ask an Expert PG. 2 Privacy of employee health information during health crisis Performance improvement plan not constructive dismissal Federally regulated worker disagreed with performance assessments, but leaving and claiming constructive dismissal was a resignation

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