Were you fired while you were on medical leave?

Posted on July 16, 2018June 14, 2024 by Walter Law Group

Losing a job can be one of the worst things to happen to anyone in Ontario who is fighting to recover from an illness that caused a disability. If this happened to you, it could bring about financial hardship for you and your family. The lack of income along with mounting medical bills can cause undue anxiety that might even exacerbate your poor health.

This is where LTD comes into play. If you have suffered an injury or contracted a disease that prevents you from returning to work, you might be entitled to long-term disability benefits.

An employer’s duty to accommodate

Except under limited circumstances, your employer may not terminate your employment while you are on medical leave. While sadly some employers do fire workers purely because they are unhappy that the employees take medical leave, provincial and federal human rights laws protect workers from such discrimination. No one’s disability may be the grounds for dismissal.

Exceptions

Employment laws require an employer to provide accommodation if you become disabled due to ill health or an injury. Your boss could either modify your duties in a manner that would allow you to continue working or he or she could grant you medical leave. However, if an employer can prove any of the following circumstances, it might justify dismissal:

Cost: If your employer must spend unreasonable amounts of money to bring about modifications to accommodate you, the court might agree that there was no other option than to dismiss you.
Undue hardship: If your employer claims that accommodating you during your illness will cause unreasonable hardship for the company, he or she will have to meet a high threshold to motivate such claims.
Health risk: If you have a condition that is highly contagious, your employer might use that to justify dismissal. However, granting you medical leave would prevent exposure of other employees to your illness.
Disruption: Some employers claim accommodating an employee’s ill health can hamper workflow, but proving that could be tough.
Unrelated firing: Your boss might even attempt to convince the court that your termination had nothing to do with your debilitating injury or illness.

Your rights during this trying time

If your employer fires you while you are on medical leave, you have the right to launch a complaint. The employer will then have the burden to prove the need to terminate your employment. Fighting for your rights at a time when you are also battling an illness might be overwhelming, but help is available. The support and guidance from an Ontario lawyer who has experience in dealing with both wrongful terminations and long-term disability insurance may prove to be an invaluable asset to your cause.

Fired without a valid reason? It might be wrongful dismissal

Posted on March 19, 2018June 14, 2024 by Walter Law Group

Losing your job unexpectedly can be a financial and personal shock. You may be surprised if your employer fails to give you a valid reason for terminating your employment. Although an employer can fire an employee without providing a reason, some reasons are against the law. Also, in most cases, an employer in Ontario must give an employee a reasonable notice of employment termination.

If this happened to you, finding alternative employment might be challenging. Furthermore, you might have questions about the validity of your dismissal. There may be grounds for legal action if your employer failed to comply with employment laws related to notice or severance pay, or if he or she committed another action that might constitute wrongful dismissal.

Examples of wrongful dismissal

As an employee, the Employment Standards Act under which you have certain rights protects you. Your employer may not use any of the following circumstances as a reason for dismissal:

Human rights: Your colour, race, ethnic origin, ancestry, citizenship, place of birth or religion may not be the reason for your dismissal. Your employer also can’t legally fire you because you have a mental or physical disability, an addiction, or because of your gender, sexual orientation or marital status. Firing you because you are pregnant or you plan to start a family is also against the law.
Leave: Parental or pregnancy leave is part of your rights as an employee, and may not jeopardize your employment status. A dismissal while you are on LTD leave or upon your return from disability leave is also unlawful.
Legal viewpoint: You may question the legality of your employer’s actions or ask him or her to comply with the law. He or she is not allowed to subsequently fire you for refusing to break environmental or other laws. You can report offences or illegal actions to the Ministry of Labour or an Employment Standards Officer. Furthermore, you may refuse to sign agreements that will jeopardize your employee rights. For example, some employees sign away their overtime rights for fear of dismissal.
Workplace safety: As an employee, you reserve the right to insist on a safe workplace environment, and you are allowed to question conditions and even refuse to do jobs that will threaten your safety. You have a right to know the details of any hazardous chemicals to which you are exposed, and you may insist on the necessary personal protective equipment.

Standing up against an employer might be daunting, but you need not do it alone. An Ontario lawyer with experience in fighting for the rights of employees who face wrongful dismissal can provide the necessary guidance and support, ensure one’s rights are protected, and fight to obtain the full amount of compensation an employee is rightfully owed.