right to refuse work

Nortel, robo-calls and refusing unlawful employer instructions

February 29, 2012 Alan McEwen Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources

Employers normally have the right to expect that instructions to employees will be faithfully carried out. But what happens when the employer asks that employees do something dodgy or potentially illegal? What would you do when faced with an employer request you felt might not be within the law?

employment law, Nortel, refusing employer instructions, reprisal, right to refuse work, Robo-calls, terminate for cause, unlawful employer requests, work refusal

Landmark decision gives insight into workplace harassment and employer reprisal

October 21, 2011 David Hyde Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights

The Ontario Labour Relations Board has provided what some believe to be the most significant legal interpretation yet of workplace harassment and employer reprisal in the context of the recently enacted Bill 168 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). The case, Conforti v. Investia Financial Services Inc., 2011, was decided on September 23, 2011.

Bill 168, compliance, discipline, employment law, harassing email, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, ontario, reprisal, right to refuse work, risk assessment, termination, termination for cause, termination for harassment complaint, vexatious comment or conduct, whistleblowing, workplace harassment, workplace harassment investigation, workplace violence

Refusing work if workplace violence is likely to endanger

January 19, 2010 Adam Gorley Health and Safety, Human Resources

What do you do when an employee tells you she’s refusing to work because she fears she’ll suffer from an act of violence at the workplace? You might ask: can the worker even do that? With workplace violence and harassment legislation and regulation spreading across Canada, you might just need to know.