PM41261516
Navigating the next normal PG.4
Key HR law trends for 2021 and
how employers can address
them
AN ALBERTA car dealership discriminated against a
worker with an alcohol addiction when it fired him for
reporting to work drunk and disrupting the workplace,
the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal has ruled.
The worker was a commission salesperson at an Ed
-
monton car dealership called Gateway Motors. When
he was hired, he told Gateway that he didn't have a
driver's licence because of an alcohol-related driving
offence.
The worker had no issues during his first several
months with Gateway, with no discipline or perfor
-
mance issues. He believed that he was "an excellent
salesperson at the top of the company," although
Gateway's owner felt that he was average.
About seven months after he started with Gateway,
the worker began drinking heavily. His wife drove
him to and from work each day and he was unable
to stay sober, usually arriving at work intoxicated. It
continued to get worse, to the point where he was vis
-
ibly drunk and smelling of alcohol by the end of the
workday.
A colleague at Gateway told the worker one day that
she could smell alcohol on him after he came back
WITH THE rise of the twin dragons of both
worry and denial relating to COVID-19,
Canadian employers have found themselves
having to tackle novel disciplinary issues ranging
from refusals to stay home pending employer
direction to the contrary, failure to follow proper
COVID-19 protocols and procedures and
challenges to the bona fides of employer policies.
While upholding disciplinary measures in
unionized sectors is not an unusual challenge
for employers, some recently reported arbitral
decisions would appear to suggest that labour
arbitrators may have a lesser inclination to
exercise leniency when faced with misconduct
directly related to COVID-19.
In the recent Ontario arbitration decision
Trillium Health Partners v. CUPE Local 5180, an
February 24, 2021
Mean-spirited firing gets B.C. worker
more than $60,000 PG.3
Delay in paying statutory entitlement,
unenforceable termination provision,
unfounded allegations all part of
employer's bad-faith conduct
EMPLOYERS
on page 6 »
CREDIT:
CLAUDIO
CARIDI
iSTOCK
CREDIT:
ATAKAN
iSTOCK
WORKER PLANNED on page 7 »
with Colin Gibson
Alberta worker's impairment
at work caused by disability
Employer knew about alcohol problem
but didn't consider accommodation before firing him
Ask an Expert PG. 2
Employee working
remotely from outside
the province
Disciplinary issues
in the time of COVID-19
Workplace health and safety come into play
when employees don't follow employer COVID-19 policies
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
BY GIOVANNA DI SAURO
