If you are ill or injured and must take an extended period of time away from work as a result you may be worried about how this will impact your employment. Employees who are concerned about how illness, injury, or disability may affect them at work should note that, legally, an employer must accommodate you and cannot fire, discipline, or otherwise take action against you because you may be unable to work. Depending on the terms of your employment agreement, you may also have a variety of options available to you, including short-term disability and long-term disability benefits, which will assist you when you are unable to work.
At Sultan Lawyers in Toronto, our team of employment lawyers regularly advises employees on their options when they are too sick or injured to return to work. We can help ensure you are protected while you recover and will fight for your rights when needed.
Legally, an employer is subject to the duty to accommodate. Under the duty to accommodate, an employer is required to do whatever is necessary to accommodate an employee’s illness, injury, condition, or disability, to the point of “undue hardship”. Generally, this means the employee cannot be fired unless they can no longer perform the fundamental duties of their own job, or another job that is available in the workplace.
An employer must determine an injured or ill employee’s needs and limitations, determine what barriers may exist to them in their role as a result, and remove those barriers.
Examples of accommodation include:
The duty to accommodate also means that, in most cases, an employer must accommodate an employee’s disability or illness related leaves and cannot fire an employee who is on disability or sick leave.
If you are concerned that your employer is not accommodating your illness, disability, or condition, or you have been terminated while away on leave, you should consult with an employment lawyer as soon as possible. There are many steps you can take to protect yourself, including filing a human rights complaint, or suing your employer.
Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, which governs most workplaces in Ontario provides employees with various statutorily protected leaves that can assist if you or a family member are ill, and you have to miss work as a result, including personal emergency leave, domestic and sexual violence leave, family medical leave, critical illness leaves, and others. These leaves provide you with unpaid, job-protected time off to be used in the case of personal illness, injury, or medical emergency, or the illness, injury, or medical emergency of a child or other immediate family member.
In addition to the various leaves provided by the Employment Standards Act, many employment contracts come with benefit plans that may provide for other leaves including short-term disability leave, long-term disability leave, and others to be used in the event of illness, injury, or other medical emergency.
The Toronto employment lawyers at Sultan Lawyers regularly advice employees who require accommodation in the workplace, or who have been terminated due to a disability, chronic condition, or illness. We fight for your rights and ensure you are protected so that you can focus on your recovery and return to work. Contact us online or at 416-214-5111 for a consultation.
Generally, yes. A foreign worker is required to have a valid job offer from a Canadian employer to secure a work permit. However, the exception lies where the foreign national is eligible for an open work permit.
Given that not all temporary foreign workers are eligible for an open work permit, it is more likely that a prospective employer will need to secure a Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA”) with Employment and Social Development Canada for a foreign national’s role in Canada, or alternatively, if the role is LMIA-exempt, the employer will need to submit an Offer of Employment with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Low-skilled or semi-skilled work generally includes work in the trades, primary and manufacturing industries, sales and services, as well as specific clerical and assistant roles.
Employment and Social Development Canada (“ESDC”) has categorized low-skilled labour for immigration purposes. Low-skilled and semi-skilled workers have been classified into the following two (2) National Occupational Classification (“NOC”) categories:
Ontario’s Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act, 2009 (the “EPFNA”) provides key rights and obligations for recruiters, employers, and foreign workers. Specifically, the EPFNA applies to foreign nationals who work or are seeking work in Ontario under a temporary employment program.
The EPFNA describes the following rights and obligations for foreign workers and employers in Ontario:
Individuals who have had their rights violated may be entitled to recourse under the EPFNA, in addition to other remedies under the law, such as damages for wrongful dismissal and related severance.
In Canada, there are two types of work permits that are issued – open work permits and employer-specific work permits.
The first type of work permit, an open work permit, essentially allows a foreign national to work for any employer in Canada, subject to some exceptions. Open work permits impose little to no restrictions on foreign nationals, and foreign nationals seeking to switch roles and/or employers are generally eligible to do so under their open work permit if it remains valid.
The second type of work permit issued in Canada, an employer-specific work permit, permits a foreign national to carry out a specific mandate for a specific employer. Foreign nationals holding this type of permit are generally severely restricted with respect to their employment in Canada, including with respect to occupational classification, location, and the employer and generally must obtain a new work permit to commence employment for a different employer in Canada.
The answer depends on the citizenship of the foreign worker.
Some foreign nationals require an eTA or visitor visa to be authorized to travel to Canada. Therefore, foreign workers from eTA or visa-required countries will need this document in addition to the work permit.
A foreign worker who applies for a work permit from outside of Canada (meaning at an embassy or consulate) will be issued an eTA or Temporary Resident Visa at the same time as the work permit.
Generally, yes. Under the Employment Insurance Act, all “insured” workers may access EI benefits given that they have paid their EI premiums and have satisfied the minimum requirements, including completion of 600 hours of insurable employment. The number of insurable hours required can vary depending upon relevant factors such as regional unemployment rates and program-specific exemptions, such as those relating to COVID-19.
However, a foreign worker may be exempt from EI coverage when they remain covered by an EI program in their originating country while working temporarily in Canada.
An employee can be dismissed for being drunk at work, but employers cannot automatically terminate someone simply because alcohol is involved. Whether a dismissal is lawful depends on the circumstances.…
Generally, your employer will not automatically be notified if you file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is typically a personal financial matter, and many employees complete the process without their employer ever…
If your employer accuses you of stealing time at work, your first concern may be whether you can be fired or even face criminal consequences. Generally, no. Most allegations of…
© Sultan Lawyers. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy / Disclaimer
