The Tribunal administratif du travail recently released Major c. Nova DM Média Canada inc., 2016 QCTAT 4423, which clarified an employer’s burden of proof to demonstrate that an employee was laid off as part of an administrative reorganization rather than dismissed not for good and sufficient cause. In this decision, administrative judge François Caron relied on Selianov c. ABPTS inc., 2010 QCCRT 0138, in order to explain the burden of proof in the…

Discrimination in Quebec’s labour relations is mainly covered by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Both protect an employee from being wronged by his employer based on race or ethnical differences. They offer employees a broad scope of protection namely with regards to hiring, dismissal, apprenticeship and conditions of employment. As the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal recently reminded, “race discrimination” is subtle and can take…

Le lock-out sévissant depuis bientôt trois (3) ans dans le secteur de l’automobile au Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, un des plus longs conflits de travail au Québec, est terminé! En effet, une entente de principe est intervenue le 14 janvier 2016 entre le Syndicat démocratique des employés de garage du Saguenay‑Lac‑Saint‑Jean (CSD) (le Syndicat), représentant dans le présent conflit environ quatre cents (400) salariés de garage et la Corporation des concessionnaires automobiles du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean-Chibougamau (la Corporation), une association…

The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (Quebec Charter) provides the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of sex. In the employment context, this protection has a wide scope that extends notably, but without limitation, to hiring, to the conditions of employment and to dismissal. The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) defines sex discrimination as : “(…) practices or attitudes that have, whether by design or impact, the effect of limiting…

Since the amendments to the Criminal Code in 2004, Parliament armed itself with an arsenal of legal weapons aiming to facilitate criminal prosecutions against organizations in case of workplace injuries. These amendments provide that any act or omission that constitutes the failure of a legal duty reflecting wanton or reckless disregard for the life or safety of others, and which results in death or injury can not only entail the personal criminal liability of directors,…

Both the Québec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (Québec Charter) as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canadian Charter) provide for the right not to be discriminated against on the ground of age. In the context of employment, the Québec Charter prohibits discrimination based on age with respect to the hiring, apprenticeship, duration of the probationary period, vocational training, promotion, transfer, displacement, laying-off, suspension, dismissal or conditions of employment. Discrimination based…