They were talking about #labourlaws on the radio this morning. About whether people could be forced to go back to work if they felt unsafe. Apparently, yes. Provided the employer is doing what is required to ensure staff safety. 1/10 #cdnpoli
They also touched on a trend that is happening, where employers are calling staff back, but telling them they are going to be either taking a pay cut, or having their hours cut. 2/10
The rationale from the employers is, they have missed a couple of months of business and they need to reduce wages in order to continue to operate. 3/10
This puts employees in a bind, because they, also, have bills to pay, some of which may be overdue because of COVID. And, how does it feel to have to go back to work, and be told that now your time and work is worth less? 4/10
As I understand it, if an employee is called back to work, and precautions have been put in place, they have to go. Or, at least, they can't continue receiving EI or CERB. Unless they have some other source of income, they have to go. 5/10
It is very unclear at this time whether employers taking advantage of this and using this leverage to force workers to accept lower wages/fewer hours/lose some benefits is going to be considered legal. It's unclear how widespread this sort of opportunism might be. 6/10
This, of course, is nothing brand new. Companies have laid off staff to "restructure" then offered the jobs back but at a lower rate of pay. In some jurisdictions employees have successfully challenged this practice, in others, courts have sided with the employer. 7/10
But that was pre-pandemic, and it was not a common business practice, although it did happen. Now there is the potential for wide-spread attempts to use #Covid_19 to try to cut labour overhead. 8/10
I am not sure if this issue falls under federal or provincial jurisdiction. Perhaps someone very familiar with labour law could explain who would have to create rules around whether an employer calling staff back has to offer the jobs at the previous rate of pay, or not... 9/10
I would be very interested in hearing people's thoughts on this. Has this happened to you? What advice have you received about whether or not this is going to be allowed? It "seems" entirely unethical, and unfair to employees. But maybe there are other perspectives...? 10/10
