Ministry of Labour Awards Damages to Employee who was Dismissed Because He Took Parental Leave

J.P. Zubec of Shields & Hunt represented a former employee of Exit Certified Corporation in proceedings before the Ministry of Labour.

The Situation
Shields & Hunt were retained to represent a gentleman (“the client”) who had earned a modest salary as an employee of Exit Certified Corporation. He was dismissed shortly before he returned from a parental leave. He had been serving his employer for only 10 months at the time. The client believed that he was dismissed because he took parental leave, which is contrary to the protections in the Employment Standards Act, 2000. Shields & Hunt filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labour and the case went to a hearing.

The Hearing
At the hearing, Exit Certified argued that its decision to dismiss the client was unrelated to his decision to take parental leave. Rather, Exit Certified argued that the client was dismissed due to a shortage of work and due to various concerns about his performance that included tardiness and attendance issues.

Mr. Zubec argued that the client’s decision to take a leave of absence was one of the reasons why his employment was terminated and therefore Exit Certified was liable under Employment Standards Act, 2000. Mr. Zubec argued that the performance issues raised by Exit Certified could not have been significant because it did not promptly appraise the client’s performance and it took no corrective action before the client started his leave of absence. Rather, Exit Certified preferred the employee who temporarily replaced the client during his leave and, therefore, the client was prejudiced by his decision to take leave. 

The Result
The Ministry of Labour concluded that the client’s performance issues were not the only reason why Exit Certified terminated his employment. It also rejected Exit Certified’s submission that the client was dismissed due to a shortage of work, because Mr. Zubec proved that the client’s replacement was still working at Exit Certified at the time of the hearing. The Ministry of Labour concluded that Exit Certified had violated the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and awarded the client, who was a modestly paid short service employee, $16,426.00, which included $3,000.00 for pain suffering.

Mr. Zubec is an Associate with Shields & Hunt who specializes in civil litigation.
He can be reached at (613) 230-3232 extension 312 or by email at jpzubec@shields-hunt.com.