Over the past two years, Canadians have seen much larger and more frequent protests than in previous years. In 2020, Canadians saw protests erupts across cities in the wake of George Floyd’s death. We also saw COVID-19 related protests, where Canadians gathered to protest mandatory mask mandates, mandatory vaccines, and lockdown protocols. Not everyone, however, agrees with the politics associated with these different protests. Although Canadians have a right to protest, does this right protect you from facing consequences at work?
The Canadian Right to Protest
It is a matter of fact that all Canadians have a right to protest. This is thanks to Section 2(b) and 2(c) of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which provides for the fundamental freedom of express and peaceful assembly, respectively. These rights also exist in the Canadian Bill of Rights and the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. According to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, “The right to protest is crucial to a free democracy and important to creating a more equitable society.”
Employees, too, are entitled to their beliefs and opinions. Generally speaking, an employee should not be concerned about losing their job as a consequence of a belief they hold.
Protests: Trouble at Work
Despite the above, your right to free expression and peaceful assembly will not protect you from consequences at work. Other than in unionized workplaces, employers are generally free to terminate their employees for any reason or no reason at all provided that reasonable notice or pay in lieu of notice (i.e. severance pay) is given. However, in some cases, an employer can terminate an employee “for cause”, meaning that no severance pay or notice is required.
Can attending a protest, then, amount to just cause for termination such that the employer does not have to pay their employee any severance?
The answer will always depend, but yes – in some cases, attending protests can amount to just cause. This is generally a difficult standard for employers to meet, but becomes easier depending on the content of the protest itself. If the employee is involved in a protest where the content of which is particularly egregious (e.g. supporting/promoting hate speech), this could reflect poorly on the employer, be damaging for their reputation, and could justify termination. Additionally, if that employee were to bring the content of their protest into the workplace by, for example, distributing flyers, posting pictures or otherwise advertising such protests to their co-workers, they may be deserving of termination without severance pay.
It should be noted, further, that employers have duties under various Ontario legislation (i.e. the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Ontario Human Rights Code) to provide workplaces free from workplace discrimination and harassment. If an employee is contributing to a poisoned work environment by sharing, for example, hate propaganda related to the protests they have attended, this too would be something an employer should be very concerned about and take steps to address.
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