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ARTICLE · 30 MARCH 2015

Key Decision Released On Accommodating Family Obligations In The Workplace

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The Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta recently delivered its much-awaited decision in the case of SMS Equipment Inc. v. Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, Local 707, 2015 ABQB 162.

CanadaEmployment and HR
M. Ashley Mitchell
M. Ashley Mitchell
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The Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta recently delivered its much-awaited decision in the case of SMS Equipment Inc. v. Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, Local 707, 2015 ABQB 162. In the SMS decision, the Court upheld an arbitrator's decision that the employer discriminated against an employee on the basis of family status, by refusing to accommodate the employee's child care responsibilities. The Court also clarified the test to establish a prima facie case of discrimination based on family status.

Background

The issue of family status in the workplace has become a hot topic in recent years. This decision follows a line of other recent family status decisions which have held that an employer is required to accommodate an employee where a workplace rule interferes with the fulfillment of a childcare obligation.

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