When you’re starting to drown between employee concerns, payroll duties and helping your CEO -- HR Insider is there to help get the logistical work out of the way.
Refusing to do work is normally an act of insubordination worthy of discipline and even termination. But Canadian OHS laws give workers the right to refuse to protect their health and safety (or that of a co-worker). Disciplining workers for lawful exercise of refusal rights is called ‘discrimination’ and can get you into a lot of trouble. By the same token, refusals are a safety measure of last resort that are allowed only under narrow circumstances. There are also specific procedures that must be followed for bringing, investigating and resolving refusals. That’s why you need a policy laying out the groundrules and procedures for work refusals.
Caveat: This policy is based on Ontario OHS law, which includes specific requirements for group refusals and JHSC member work stoppages that don’t apply outside of Ontario.
