practices of employees requires employers
to show flexibility in their work schedules.
By way of illustration, a devout Muslim
must be given time off to pray several times
per day. Similarly, during the winter, de-
vout Jews must be permitted to leave work
early enough each Friday afternoon to safe-
ly reach home before sundown. is prin-
ciple was emphasized by the tribunal in
Qureshi v. G4S Security Services (Canada)
Ltd., where the tribunal found an employer
had breached its legal duty under the code
by failing to accede to a scheduling change
request from one of its Muslim employees
who wanted time off to pray on Fridays.
Do non-Christian employees have
a right to insist on working during
the Christmas and Easter holidays?
For the moment, non-Christian employ-
ees do not have the legal right to insist on
working on Christmas and Good Friday.
In Markovic, the tribunal stated that al-
though Christmas and Good Friday were
traditionally Christian holidays, they have
now become secular pause days in mod-
ern society. e Ontario Employment
Standards Act defines these days as public
holidays, and under the act no employer
can be forced to do business, or permit
its employees to work on those days just
because they wish to do so. Since staff
who elect to work on those public holi-
days must be paid premium pay equal to
approximately 2.5 times their salary, the
financial repercussions on all employers
could be severe if non-Christians were al-
lowed to insist on working on those days.
In 2017, employers would do well to
tread carefully when dealing with re-
quests for religious accommodation from
employees who are of Muslim, Jewish and
other non-Christian backgrounds. Fail-
ure to accommodate the religious prac-
tices of these employees to the point of
undue hardship will cause employers to
run the risk of a costly lawsuit, harmful
to their organization's public image and
financial bottom line.
For more information see:
• Audmax Inc. v. Ontario (Human Rights
Tribunal), 2011 CarswellOnt 262 (Ont.
Div. Ct.).
• Markovic v. Autocom Manufacturing
Ltd., 2008 CarswellOnt 5936 (Ont. Hu-
man Rights Trib.).
• Chambly (Commission scolaire régio-
nale) v. Bergevin, 1994 CarswellQue 78
(S.C.C.).
• Qureshi v. G4S Security Services (Can-
ada) Ltd., 2009 CarswellOnt 2931 (Ont.
Human Rights Trib.).
Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017
May
10,
2017
|
Canadian
Employment
Law
Today
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alan Riddell
Alan Riddell and Kyle Van Schie are Ottawa lawyers who specialize in
labour and employment law and who work at the law firm of
Soloway Wright LLP. Allen can be reached at (613) 782-3235 or
riddella@solowaywright.com. Kyle can be reached at (613) 782-3211
or kvanshie@solowaywright.com.
CREDIT: NUNAWWOOFY/SHUTTERSTOCK
