QUIZ
Lisa Feinberg, associate, and Abdul-Basit Khan, partner, WeirFoulds LLP
Make sure policies
comply with law
of the land
Employment policies help
employers clarify their
expectations to their employees.
Policies also help establish
guidelines for dealing with
day-to-day issues such as
vacation, overtime, sick leave,
and use of social media. Yet,
these policies must be carefully
drafted to ensure compliance
with a number of overlapping
employment-related statutes,
including employment
standards and human rights
legislation as well as the
common law. Moreover, with
the changing jurisprudence,
these policies can quickly
become out of date.
1
Your company has a short-term layoff policy for periods of seasonal lows. This winter,
it decides to layoff three employees on a short-term basis for 14 weeks. Two of the
employees accept the layoff. However, the third employee claims that he has been
constructively dismissed and asks for separation pay. Does your layoff policy constitute
constructive dismissal?
(A) Yes
(B) No
(C) It depends
2
Your company has an absenteeism policy which provides that employees who are absent
for more than 10 days per year without prior approval are automatically dismissed. Does
this policy comply with your obligations under human rights legislation?
(A) Yes
(B) No
(C) It depends
3
Your company suspects employees may be coming to work intoxicated in a safetysensitive environment, but it has no proof. To address this issue, your company institutes
a mandatory random alcohol and drug testing policy. Several employees complain this
policy violates their privacy. Is your company allowed to carry out the policy?
(A) Yes
(B) No
(C) It depends
4
Your company has an unpaid internship policy. The policy provides that interns may be
hired to assist staff for up to a six-week period and will receive an honorarium of $200.
Interns are to be recent graduates and may be offered employment at the completion
of their internship. Is this program legal?
(A) Yes
(B) No
(C) It depends
canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse February 2014 15
