STOP WORK ORDER

Question: If a safety officer issues a stop work order to my company and my company appeals that order, do we still have to comply with the order while the appeal is being decided?

Answer: If a safety inspector issues an order to a company, the company must either comply with the order or appeal it. It can’t simply ignore the order.

In many cases, the company will have to comply with the order while the appeal is pending. That is, the order stays in effect until the appeal is decided. But that’s not always the case. Many jurisdictions give employers the right to have an order suspended while the appeal or review is ongoing.

For example, in Ontario, the Board will consider three factors when determining whether or not to suspend an inspector’s order:

1. Whether suspension of the order would endangers workers;
2. Any prejudice to the parties from either the suspension or lack of suspension of the order; and
3. Whether the employer has made out a strong prima facie case for the successful appeal of the order.

So if suspending the order wouldn’t endanger workers, failing to suspend the order would prejudice the company (say, because it would cost the company thousands of dollars to comply) and it’s likely that the company will win the appeal, the Board will suspend the order during the appeal and thus, the company won’t have to comply with it until a final ruling is made.