Sickness, Sickness Everywhere, Nor Any Cure In Sight

SETTING THE SCENE

Benjamin Franklin once said that a person should "be not sick too late, nor well too soon." However, what happens when an employee is sick too soon and well... well, never?

That was precisely the question an arbitrator in British Columbia was forced to confront in Loblaws Cos. and UFCW, Local 247 (P.(J.)), Re, [2014] B.C.W.L.D. 2088. A unionized employee was terminated for non-culpable absenteeism after she missed between 10 per cent and 17 per cent of her work days over a roughly three year period, beginning in 2010. By comparison, her workplace averaged between two per cent and five per cent. The reasons for her absences included, but were not limited to, an "ulcer" that was never diagnosed as an ulcer, "cancer" that was never diagnosed as cancer, a hysterectomy, allergies, bronchitis, eye issues and constipation. The employee grieved the dismissal.