Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER May 2, 2016 8 NEWS Vendors spotlight transitory," she wrote in the decision. "It is clear from the applicant's testimony that she continues to experience signifi cant emotional distress from the miscarriage even today." And while Mou had recovered from her injury and her miscar- riage at the time of termination, the human rights code does not require a disability to be present at the time of adverse treatment, said Scott. "The protections under the code would have little meaning if an employer could terminate an employee because of disability- related absences provided the dis- ability no longer exists at the time of termination." In the end, the request to dismiss Mou's application was denied. Potential implications e decision is an interim one but its potential implications could still be interesting, said Stuart Rudner, founding partner at Rud- ner MacDonald in Toronto. "It hasn't been determined con- clusively," he said. People who are injured and are temporarily unable to work may be protected by the code, he said. "The same thing, arguably, could apply to someone who has a miscarriage and is temporarily impacted and unable to work." Although it is an interim deci- sion, the outcome could still make things easier for the next woman who comes forward with a case about pregnancy loss, Mou's lawyer, Morgan Rowe of Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck in Ottawa, told CBC news. "It should make it easier for the next woman who comes along who feels like an employer has re- lied on her miscarriage to penalize her in some way," she said. At the same time, this was a very specifi c case with a combina- tion of diff erent factors aff ecting the applicant, according to Erin Kuzz, founding member of Sher- rard Kuzz in Toronto. "Everybody is going to have a diff erent reaction to an event like that," she said. Sometimes, as in this case, the psychological impact will last a long time and issues such as de- pression might arise. And depres- sion alone was enough to find there was a disability present in this case, said Kuzz. "I'm not sure that the vice- chair had to go as far as she went in terms of her categorical state- ment that a miscarriage is a dis- ability. And, quite frankly, I would respectfully suggest that she went too far in making that statement because when you look at how you reach the conclusion that something's a disability, it has to be something that's more than transitory, and not something that happens to many people… a mis- carriage happens to a lot of young women," she said. ere are still issues that haven't been clarifi ed or decided in the in- terim decision, said Daniel Cho- dos, partner at Whitten Lublin in Toronto. "One of the points that's raised but not actually decided in the interim decision is whether there was a perception of a disability as opposed to an actual disability, because one is as good as the oth- er if you're arguing a case based around a disability. A perception of the employer can still create li- ability for the employer," he said. The important takeaway for employers and employees alike is this decision moves the needle just a little bit away from the per- manency argument in regards to what is a disability, said Chodos. The decision expressly rejects the idea that a disability must be permanent. "What it can't be is entirely transitory — it can't be a common cold, it can't be a fl u, it can't be a bruise, anything like that," he said. "And all disabilities are not cre- ated equal. One person's miscar- riage may have a much more seri- ous eff ect that someone else's, and it may cause them to require very diff erent levels of accommodation — which is where this decision is going next." Miscarriage and mental health is case was a very clear example of the intersection or overlap of two conditions — the miscarriage itself and the resulting depression and mental health issues. "Depression is not an uncom- mon experience after miscarriage — or the broader term would be perinatal loss," said Deborah Davidson, associate professor in sociology at York University in Toronto. "But while grief is not a mental illness condition itself… (there are) systemic barriers and attitu- dinal barriers that can add to grief and spin it in a whole other direc- tion where (the employer is not) providing the social support. "Everyone who experiences it has diff erent understandings and ways to formulate their experi- ences and think about it." However, the majority of fami- lies that experience a miscarriage do experience it as a loss and likely experience some degree of grief, said Kemayla Fleming, executive director of the Pregnancy and In- fant Loss Network in Pickering, Ont. "What we do know is that 75 per cent of families that do expe- rience a miscarriage feel it as the loss of a child. And with the loss of a child, like any form of grief, you could experience depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and post-partum mood disorders as well," she said. To this point, that has been kind of a knowledge gap for employers, she said. "It's been something we've been so silent about. Families have a miscarriage, take a day off work, and return to work like nothing's happened," she said. " is, hopefully, will open up the door so more people feel comfortable letting their em- ployers know and requesting ad- equate time off so that they can heal." It's important to remember grief takes time, said Fleming. " ere's a bigger conversation about grief and bereavement here that's taking place in addition to miscarriage loss," she said. "Not only is the female experiencing the physical aftermath of the mis- carriage, she's experiencing the long-term eff ects of grief." at mental health impact isn't just limited to the woman, said Davidson — her partner can also experience grief, depression and other mental health issues and may require some support. "It's not just about the woman," she said. Fleming agreed male partners are often overlooked when it comes to miscarriages. "(Male partners) are experienc- ing a lot of these feelings as well… they experience a level of grief too, and there's a whole other layer of complication for a male to come into the workplace and say, 'My wife had a miscarriage, I need a few days to recover,'" she said. e experience of a miscar- riage is often minimized, said Davidson. "Minimization is what occurs in miscarriage, in pregnancy loss, in early infant death. It's prone to minimization and lack of valida- tion by those who you would think would be or should be supporting us," she said. "You don't really understand it unless you've been through it, and even if you've been through it, you can understand it diff erently." Sometimes employers can even be more supportive of pet loss than of a miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, said Davidson. "We've come a great distance in terms of pregnancy loss later in gestation; certainly, hospitals have made a profound shift in how they and their health-care workers un- derstand and treat women. (But, in general), a miscarriage is still an area fraught with misunderstand- ing and judgment." Impact on disability claims Moving forward, some employers may be worried about a spike in disability claims, especially if they are unclear on what exactly con- stitutes a miscarriage, said Chris- tine omlinson, co-founder and co-managing partner at Rubin omlinson in Toronto. "One of the challenges for em- ployers when they're trying to deal with disabilities in the workplace is the prospect that they don't have clear information about what a disability is and what their duty to accommodate is," she said. Some employers are shocked when they fi nd out they may have a duty to accommodate even when no one has come to them and said they have a disability, as in the case of a miscarriage, said omlinson. Also, miscarriages are generally very sudden, which is challeng- ing both for the woman and her employer. "To fi nd yourself in a situation where something has come up that's so unexpected, it can be so devastating because what was thought to be a wonderfully joy- ous thing has turned tragic, and you've got the added challenge of now addressing it in the work- place," she said. At the same time, miscarriages impact people very differently, said Kuzz. "Looking at how someone reacts to it is the more useful analysis in terms of determining whether that event resulted in a disability for that person." It's more about the intersection between the miscarriage itself and the mental health impacts than about just the miscarriage in iso- lation, she said. Considering miscarriage as a potential disability is part of a broader trend in human rights legislation, said Rudner. "The same argument could probably be made for abortion. In and of itself, maybe it's a disability, maybe it's not. But it could have impacts that interfere with one's ability to work," he said. "It's critical for employers never to reject any requests for accom- modation out of hand, and par- ticularly not to impose their own moral beliefs." Employers also need to be dili- gent about the duty to inquire, said Rudner — if an employer notices a change in performance or behaviour, there is a duty to inquire further rather than just dismissing that employee. "It's incumbent upon the em- ployer to make inquiries if they have any reason to believe that it might relate to a human rights ground," he said. Decision rejects idea disability must be permanent MISCARRIAGE < pg. 1 "Looking at how someone reacts to it is the more useful analysis in terms of determining whether that event resulted in a disability for the person." Accompass strives to take a hands-on, personal, proactive approach to clients and their businesses. We address the full range of strategic, financial, and regulatory issues across Benefits & Health, Investment & Retirement, and Compensation & Incentives. Our team is united in this commitment: to provide a level of service that will never be found anywhere else. Vendors spotlight Vendors spotlight VENDOR'S SPOTLIGHT Vendors spotlight Vendors spotlight DLGL Technologies Corporation 850 Michelle-Bohec Blvd. Blainville, QC, J7C 5E2 (450) 979-4646 Email: info@dlgl.com Website: dlgl.com VIP integrated Web HR-Payroll-Workforce Scheduling- Pension-Self-Service Portals. Compensation & Bonus Rewards. Benefits. Time & Attendance. e-Recruitment. Wellness Management. Learning. Labour Relations. Absenteeism. Succession & Career Planning. Organization Charting. BI & Metrics. Recruitment to retirement. And More. Single Database Canada/USA. Full flexibility in deployment mode: SaaS, Cloud or Private Cloud, On-Premise, Hybrid. Hay Group 700 - 121 King St. W. Toronto ON M5H 3X7 (416) 868-1371 Email: anne.heber@kornferry.com Website: kornferry.com/haygroup Korn Ferry is the preeminent global people and organizational advisory firm. We help leaders, organizations, and societies succeed by releasing the full power and potential of people. 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