Canadian Employment Law Today

PM41261516 Ask an Expert PG. 2 Excessive workload from taking vacation Alberta worker gets $20,000 for harassment, but termination not discriminatory PG.4 Female worker in male-dominated workplace subjected to sexual comments by supervisor, but there were legitimate reasons for termination A BRITISH Columbia public service employer has lost its bid to dismiss an employee's complaint relating to a lack of accommodation because it said the employee didn't co-operate in the accommodation process. Kathleen Michaud was a policy and legislative ana- lyst for the B.C. Ministry of Finance. Hired in 2006, she produced and reported on the analyses of various provincial policies and legislation. Her role involved a substantial amount of independent judgment in evaluating policies and making recommendations to staff and members of government. In August 2016, Michaud was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder. Her physician gave her a medi - cal certificate that stated Michaud was experiencing pain and severe fatigue that affected her productiv- ity and concentration. It also said that her symptoms were unpredictable and her prognosis was uncertain. The physician recommended modifications to Mi- chaud's work, including a later start and finish time because her symptoms tended to improve later in the day and any opportunities for her to work from home. About one month later, Michaud met with her su - pervisor to discuss the medical certificate. The ministry AN ALBERTA arbitrator has upheld the termination of a health care aide for stealing cheques from a resident and depositing them into her account. The 31-year-old worker was a health care aide (HCA) hired in 2014 by Alberta Health Services (AHS) to work at the Willow Creek Continuing Care Centre, a residential care home in Claresh - olm, Alta., for people with long-term health problems. Most residents are elderly and have conditions such as dementia. The worker, like most HCAs at Willow Creek, was assigned eight to 10 residents for which she would provide assistance in their daily care. During the workday, she stored her belongings in a storage room with those of other employees who didn't have their own lockers. One of the residents for whom the worker November 3, 2021 Fired Alberta employees not bound by severance policy PG.3 Long-time workers pre-dated policy limiting notice entitlement; employment contracts didn't mention or incorporate policy MEDICAL on page 7 » CREDIT: PAYPHOTO iSTOCK WORKER SUGGESTED on page 6 » with Colin Gibson Accommodation efforts of both employer and employee lacking B.C. employee didn't provide additional medical information but employer shouldn't have sought independent assessment first Alberta health care aide fired for stealing resident's cheques Worker suggested another employee had stolen the cheques and accessed her cellphone, but she wasn't able to explain who, why, or how they did it BY JEFFREY R. SMITH BY JEFFREY R. SMITH

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