Yes your employees may be legally entitled to time off work to watch their kids, even if they give you no advance notice

September 7, 2016 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

We recently came across this new Ontario human rights decision in the course of advising an Alberta employer on an employee child care issue. There are relatively few Alberta decisions that speak to this issue, so Alberta employers often have to look for guidance from the Ontario, British Columbia, and Federal tribunals and courts, when trying to navigate this difficult area of law.

In Miraka v A.C.D. Wholesale Meats Ltd., a wholesale meat distributor made the poor choice of terminating a delivery truck driver’s employment after he missed 3 consecutive days of work.  2 of those days were missed because he had to take care of his two children after his wife, who normally watched them, became sick.  The Tribunal determined that the termination was unlawful and discriminatory.

It stated that “[i]n Canada (Attorney General) v. Johnstone, 2014 FCA 110 (CanLII), the Federal Court of Appeal clarified that the sorts of parental obligations that fall within the protected ground of “family status” under human rights legislation are substantive obligations that engage a parent’s legal responsibility to a child”.

Dealing with the employer’s argument that the Johnstone decision meant that the employee was obligated to arrange alternate child care, the Tribunal stated that it was

“not convinced that the requirement to demonstrate reasonable efforts to make alternative childcare arrangements applies in cases like this, where there is only an infrequent, sporadic or unexpected need to miss work to take care of one’s children…Rather, what comes into play in cases like this one is the overarching principle that a “bona fide childcare problem” has resulted in an employee being unable to meet his or her work obligations….this is a highly fact-specific inquiry, and each case must be reviewed on an individual basis in regard to all of the circumstances.”

The Tribunal also did not accept the employer’s argument that the employee was obliged to try to hire, on short notice, a stranger from “Craigslist” or “Kijiji” to care for his young children, before the employee would fall within the Human Rights Code’s protections. It found that doing so may have been inconsistent with the employee’s legal obligations to ensure the safety and well-being of his children.

Alberta employers should keep this decision in mind when responding to an employee’s last minute request or demand for time off work to deal with childcare obligations, and even other family needs. Arguably, and if the right facts exist, employees could be protected under the Alberta Human Rights Act even if they have made no efforts to seek out alternate child care. The result is that they could be entitled to the short period of time off, in most cases despite the negative impact that their absence will have on the employer’s operations.

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Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Employment and labour lawyers at McCarthy Tétrault LLP

McCarthy Tétrault through their Employer Advisor blogs offers their perspectives on the latest legal developments applicable to the workplace. It provides their insights on legislative and regulatory developments, as well as new case law, while providing practical tips for employers and their human resources professionals when managing the workforce. McCarthy Tétrault is a Canadian law firm that delivers integrated business law, litigation services, tax law, real property law, labour and employment law nationally and globally. Several of their blog posts will be republished with permission on First Reference Talks. Read more

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Alberta Human Rights Act, bona fide childcare problem, childcare obligations, employee absences, employment law, family status, human rights, Human Rights Code protections, last minute request for time off work, Miraka v A.C.D. Wholesale Meats Ltd., parental obligations, parent’s legal responsibility to a child, time off work to watch children, time off work to watch kids, “family status” under human rights legislation

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