Acting in haste hurts employers’ chances of showing hardship
There were three important court decisions last year that examined the notion of “undue hardship” in accommodating employee disabilities and return to work following an extended disability-related absence. Two of the decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada — Syndicat des employé-e-s de techniques professionnelles & de bureau d’Hydro-Québec, section 2000 (SCFP-FTQ) c. Corbeil and Keays v. Honda Canada Inc. —exonerated employers. In the third, ADGA Group Consultants Inc. v. Lane, the Ontario Divisional Court reprimanded the employer for a hasty and incomplete assessment of its ability to accommodate.
