Key points in the Supreme Court of Canada ruling regarding an employer's duty to accommodate disabled employees:
- Parties to a collective bargaining agreement have a right to negotiate, in good faith, clauses to ensure employees attend work and do their work. Although time allowed off work is a factor, the accommodation of a disabled employee must be evaluated case by case.
- Parties to a collective bargaining agreement cannot agree to a level of protection that is less than that given to employees under human rights legislation.
- Undue hardship resulting from an employee's absence must be assessed from the beginning of the absence.
- An employee has a duty to provide evidence that he or she can return to work within a reasonable period of time.
Source: Supreme Court of Canada
