By Donna Gallant

Employers are regularly called upon to modify the workplace or job duties in order to accommodate disabilities. But personal assistive bodily devices haven’t traditionally been part of the accommodation discussion in Canada. This may now be changing, according to a recent arbitration decision.

Teacher requires hearing aids
A teacher struggled with a serious, progressive hearing loss. She bought an analog hearing aid in the early 1990s. Her hearing got worse, and she couldn’t communicate effectively, which of course is an essential part of teaching.

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By Alix Herber and Michelle Johnston

The Ontario government is leading the Canadian provinces in its push for accessibility for people with disabilities, a ratio that is estimated to rise to one in five people in Canada by 2025.

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By Karen Sargeant

You give your employee almost 32 weeks’ pay after terminating his employment without cause. He gets another job two weeks later. You’re off the hook, right? Maybe not.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Brito v. Canac Kitchens, a Division of Kohler Canada Co. has recently said no. Instead, you may be required to “make the employee whole” in every respect, not just salary. That could mean disability benefits too, even after he starts his other job.

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By Mark Colavecchia

The duty to accommodate is one of the most difficult issues Canadian employers regularly face. While courts across the country have attempted to define the scope of an employer’s legal obligations with a workable degree of certainty, the practical application of the duty to accommodate remains complex and problematic.

The issue is further clouded by novel fact patterns – leading to different statements of employer obligations. The most recent of these statements comes from the British Columbia Court of Appeal in Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. v. Kerr.

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