Under Quebec law, a worker has a broadly applicable
right to refuse to perform work that she believes to be unsafe
and/or a risk to her health. Should this occur, the employer must
follow a specific process, failing which it could be subject to
administrative or penal sanctions. This post, which is based on our
recent article in The Canadian HR Reporter, examines the
issues surrounding refusals to work.
Background
The right to refuse work is found in the Act respecting occupational health and
safety (the “Act”), Article 12 of which
provides that a worker has a right to refuse to perform particular
work if he has reasonable grounds to believe that the performance
of that work will expose him to a danger to his health, safety or
physical well-being, or will expose another person to a similar
danger.
