Canadian Employment Law Today

PM40065782 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad ad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com August 30, 2017 Being temporarily unfi t for work not frustration of contract: Tribunal A BRITISH COLUMBIA childcare centre incorrectly assumed an employee who was declared unfi t for work for four weeks could no longer do the job and frustrated the em- ployment contract, the B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal has ruled. Iris Twidale was an early childhood edu- cator (ECE) for Tune Town, a day care busi- ness in Victoria, hired in October 2012. On March 8, 2016, Twidale received a note from her doctor stating that she was "unfi t for employment, for medical reasons, for the next four weeks, pending further re- view." She tried calling Guy Brisebois, Tune Town's owner, and her manager, but couldn't reach them, so she texted the note. She also requested a record of employment (ROE). e next morning, Twidale's manager texted her to see if she was okay. Twidale responded that she was fi ne but her doctor didn't like certain test results. When Brise- bois saw the note, he felt it put him in a dif- fi cult situation because Tune Town had ex- actly the number of ECE's required to meet regulatory requirements for the ratio of ECE's to children. Since there was no indica- tion of when Twidale could return to work and it would be diffi cult to hire a temporary replacement on short notice, he contacted the Vancouver Island Health Authority for advice. According to Brisebois, the health authority indicated that since Twidale was "unfi t for employment," he couldn't employ- er her until she was fi t. Under B.C.'s childcare regulation, ECE's working for him would have their licences revoked if he couldn't prove they were physically or psychologi- cally fi t for employment. Brisebois contacted the provincial em- ployment standards branch, who told him if Harassment, poisoned work environment in worker's mind Worker claimed management was spying on her and making her life diffi cult but her perception was coloured by stress and paranoia BY JEFFREY R. SMITH AN ONTARIO worker who accused her employer of spying on her and harassing her based on rumours of an aff air at work has had her claim for millions of dollars in damages dismissed by the Ontario Supe- rior Court of Justice. Bonnie McDonald was a fi nancial con- trol clerk at Peel Manor, a long-term care home operated by the Regional Municipal- ity of Peel in Ontario. She was initially hired by Peel in January 1989 as a fi nancial con- trol clerk for a division of the municipal- ity that provided transportation for people with disabilities. In 2001 McDonald was transferred to Peel Manor. After joining Peel Manor, McDonald got to know the commissioner of health for Peel. She felt the commissioner was at- tracted to her, though she wasn't interested CREDIT: FRESNEL/SHUTTERSTOCK Failure to heed warnings and discipline gets worker fi red pg. 3 Worker argued discipline was disproportionate but had record Weighting experience in the foreign worker search pg. 4 Federal Court issues 2 divergent rulings on whether experience requirements can rule out Canadian candidates with Stuart Rudner WORKER on page 6 » EMPLOYER on page 7 » ASK AN EXPERT pg. 2 New employment contract for promoted employee

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