Potential Employment Law Issues When Managing a Remote or Hybrid Workforce

According to Statistics Canada, in 2023 20% of Canadian workers reported that they “usually” work from home. This is a significant jump from the pre-pandemic numbers, with only 7% of workers reporting that they usually worked from home in 2016.

Many employers now are trying to figure out how to move forward with working arrangements for their employees in the post-pandemic world- fully remote? Fully in-person? A hybrid of both? 

If your business has employees working remotely, whether all the time or some of the time, there are certain employment law issues you should consider as remote work becomes a more permanent and prevalent part of the employment landscape. 

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Navigating Disability Accommodation Requests: Balancing Privacy and Information

Accommodating employees with disabilities and medical issues is an integral part of creating an inclusive and equitable workplace. But what should an employer do if they receive a request for accommodation that does not provide enough information? How can we balance an employee’s right to privacy with an employer’s need for sufficient information to assess an accommodation request?

Navigating Disability Accommodation Requests: Balancing Privacy and Information

What is the duty to accommodate? 

Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, employers have a legal duty to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. This duty has both a procedural and a substantive component. This means that both the procedure used to assess the accommodation and the actual substance of the accommodation provided are important for employers to fulfill their duty. 

However, the duty to accommodate is not absolute. Employers must accommodate to the point of undue hardship. Employers do not need to provide an accommodation if it would cause undue or excessive hardship, such as onerous costs or health and safety risks. 

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