Ontario Boss Is Defying Work From Home Orders. Advice?
January 14, 2021 12:31 PM Subscribe
A friend's partner's employer is refusing to let his employees work from home during the pandemic. What options do my friend and her partner have?
My friend "May"'s partner, "Cheng", works for an engineering consulting company in York Region, Ontario. The owner of the company he works for, let's call him F.I. (short for "Fucking Idiot"), let his employees work from home in March and April of 2020, but has refused to let any of his employees work from home since because he claimed they won't actually work if they do. Incidentally, F.I. is over 60 and has COPD, so he's basically suicidally pig-headed.
On January 12th, the Ontario government announced new restrictions that stipulate Ontario businesses must ensure that any employee who can work from home does work from home, but F.I. is still trying to find a way to make his employees come in to the office. F.I. has said that he'll make "a decision" on Monday (January 18th), and for the rest of this week his staff have a choice to go work and get paid, or not go in and take vacation time or unpaid leave. My friend believes he’s testing staff to see who shows up. Only Cheng and two other staffers are not in the office today -- everyone else is there.
For more context, F.I. is a nightmare boss in general. Some employees have quit or been fired due to his behaviour, which meant that some major projects Cheng works on went pear-shaped. F.I. blamed Cheng, reduced his hours, and docked his pay by 20%. Then, when F.I. realized he couldn’t do all the work himself, he told Cheng he had to work 5 days a week again, at the reduced pay, but said there would be a quarterly review and bonus structure. Cheng never received one cent in bonus money. Cheng did speak with a lawyer about that situation, and was told it's constructive dismissal, meaning Cheng could quit and sue for severance. But that could take years, and Cheng and May would be without his income.
There was also an incident where F.I. told a female employee that she ought to smile more, she responded that his comment was inappropriate and harassment, and he fired her on the spot.
What can Cheng and May do? Cheng simply can't afford to either quit or take unpaid time off, it's unlikely he'll be able to find a new job right away given the present situation although he is looking, and it seems his co-workers are in the same boat, which makes it difficult for them to band together and stage any sort of protest effort. Is there any way to effectively report F.I. so that a legal/government authority will make him abide by the pandemic restrictions?
My friend "May"'s partner, "Cheng", works for an engineering consulting company in York Region, Ontario. The owner of the company he works for, let's call him F.I. (short for "Fucking Idiot"), let his employees work from home in March and April of 2020, but has refused to let any of his employees work from home since because he claimed they won't actually work if they do. Incidentally, F.I. is over 60 and has COPD, so he's basically suicidally pig-headed.
On January 12th, the Ontario government announced new restrictions that stipulate Ontario businesses must ensure that any employee who can work from home does work from home, but F.I. is still trying to find a way to make his employees come in to the office. F.I. has said that he'll make "a decision" on Monday (January 18th), and for the rest of this week his staff have a choice to go work and get paid, or not go in and take vacation time or unpaid leave. My friend believes he’s testing staff to see who shows up. Only Cheng and two other staffers are not in the office today -- everyone else is there.
For more context, F.I. is a nightmare boss in general. Some employees have quit or been fired due to his behaviour, which meant that some major projects Cheng works on went pear-shaped. F.I. blamed Cheng, reduced his hours, and docked his pay by 20%. Then, when F.I. realized he couldn’t do all the work himself, he told Cheng he had to work 5 days a week again, at the reduced pay, but said there would be a quarterly review and bonus structure. Cheng never received one cent in bonus money. Cheng did speak with a lawyer about that situation, and was told it's constructive dismissal, meaning Cheng could quit and sue for severance. But that could take years, and Cheng and May would be without his income.
There was also an incident where F.I. told a female employee that she ought to smile more, she responded that his comment was inappropriate and harassment, and he fired her on the spot.
What can Cheng and May do? Cheng simply can't afford to either quit or take unpaid time off, it's unlikely he'll be able to find a new job right away given the present situation although he is looking, and it seems his co-workers are in the same boat, which makes it difficult for them to band together and stage any sort of protest effort. Is there any way to effectively report F.I. so that a legal/government authority will make him abide by the pandemic restrictions?
(Is it engineering - or IT/software engineering? Because, if it is the latter - PM me)
Simultaneously - someone (not Cheng or his wife) needs to report this business and boss to; local health unit/authority, police, workplace health and safety, basically ... EVERYONE, and keep reporting it until some action is taken:
COVID-19: Report Non-Compliance (Toronto)
Peel Region - Reporting non-compliance
So - basically need to find the region and appropriate authorities within. Myself, following reddit/ontario since this all began, I have seen hundreds of complaints by people in industries where they *could* be working remotely, but continue toi be forced to work from offices because their idiot management/owners cannot possibly believe people will work without the threat of someone watching them... It seems to be an endemic problem more so in Ontario than other provinces.
posted by rozcakj at 12:44 PM on January 14, 2021 [6 favorites]
Simultaneously - someone (not Cheng or his wife) needs to report this business and boss to; local health unit/authority, police, workplace health and safety, basically ... EVERYONE, and keep reporting it until some action is taken:
COVID-19: Report Non-Compliance (Toronto)
Peel Region - Reporting non-compliance
So - basically need to find the region and appropriate authorities within. Myself, following reddit/ontario since this all began, I have seen hundreds of complaints by people in industries where they *could* be working remotely, but continue toi be forced to work from offices because their idiot management/owners cannot possibly believe people will work without the threat of someone watching them... It seems to be an endemic problem more so in Ontario than other provinces.
posted by rozcakj at 12:44 PM on January 14, 2021 [6 favorites]
I work for a municipal government in Ontario, unionised. I worked from home March - July. My job can 100% be done from home. We are literally all coming in to attend web meetings with our desks side by side (web meetings because 100% of management is working from home). We we all given the choice to come in to work, use all vacation or take an unpaid leave of absence. The Ministry of Labour has been contacted and came in and inspected us and signed off on us continuing to work on-site. Our Union is aware. My bosses’ boss sends out weekly emails encouraging everyone to find ways to work from home. There is no legal reason to compel the employer to allow us to work from home, Ford’s Order and regulations released yesterday leave it up to the employer’s “common sense”. Sorry. This sucks.
posted by saucysault at 1:31 PM on January 14, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by saucysault at 1:31 PM on January 14, 2021 [10 favorites]
Cheng could file a health and safety complaint with the Ontario Ministry of Labour.
posted by hepta at 1:33 PM on January 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by hepta at 1:33 PM on January 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
From a communication perspective, Cheng could talk to FI and express his concern that FI's company is going to be fined, which can include a year's jail time. This is the language in the regulation:
"Work from home except where necessary
2.1 (1) Each person responsible for a business or organization that is open shall ensure that any person who performs work for the business or organization conducts their work remotely, unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site at the workplace."
The other alternative is to see if the business is following the required measures (masking indoors, safety plan posted, active daily screening) and if not report it to the local public health authority. .
But there's a lot of wriggle room - for example, the individual stay at home orders read:
1. (1) Every individual shall remain in their place of residence at all times unless leaving their place of residence is necessary for one or more of the following purposes:
Work, school and child care
1. Working or volunteering where the nature of the work or volunteering requires the individual to leave their residence, including when the individual’s employer has determined that the nature of the individual’s work requires attendance at the workplace. [emphasis mine]
If I were advising Cheng I would be trying to assess the true risk of transmission. How much space is there between desks, are there physical barriers? Is his employer providing good (N95) masks? Are there meetings in small spaces? Is equipment including phones cleaned every day at least twice? And so on. I would probably try to address those first given the situation and the wriggle room left by the province.
And yes, job hunt.
It is stressful; I'm sorry.
posted by warriorqueen at 2:01 PM on January 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
"Work from home except where necessary
2.1 (1) Each person responsible for a business or organization that is open shall ensure that any person who performs work for the business or organization conducts their work remotely, unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site at the workplace."
The other alternative is to see if the business is following the required measures (masking indoors, safety plan posted, active daily screening) and if not report it to the local public health authority. .
But there's a lot of wriggle room - for example, the individual stay at home orders read:
1. (1) Every individual shall remain in their place of residence at all times unless leaving their place of residence is necessary for one or more of the following purposes:
Work, school and child care
1. Working or volunteering where the nature of the work or volunteering requires the individual to leave their residence, including when the individual’s employer has determined that the nature of the individual’s work requires attendance at the workplace. [emphasis mine]
If I were advising Cheng I would be trying to assess the true risk of transmission. How much space is there between desks, are there physical barriers? Is his employer providing good (N95) masks? Are there meetings in small spaces? Is equipment including phones cleaned every day at least twice? And so on. I would probably try to address those first given the situation and the wriggle room left by the province.
And yes, job hunt.
It is stressful; I'm sorry.
posted by warriorqueen at 2:01 PM on January 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
The right to refuse— Contact Us: Phone and E-mail | Ontario Ministry of Labour (emphasis mine)
You have the right to refuse unsafe work, including situations where you believe you’re in danger of workplace violence. Your employer cannot fire or discipline you for refusing unsafe work or for asking them to address a health and safety issue. Your employer can’t penalize you for following workplace health and safety laws and for obeying a Ministry of Labour inspector’s order. This would be an unlawful reprisal.
Report hazards and any violations of workplace health and safety law right away to your supervisor or employer. If you can’t get health and safety problems fixed at work, call the Ministry of Labour Health and Safety Contact Centre toll-free at 1-877-202-0008. You don’t have to give your name
A call to the MoL will shut FI up. No workplace can refuse an MoL workplace inspection. They will find something if called out.
posted by scruss at 2:22 PM on January 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'd probably start by calling bylaw (they have been empowered to enforce), and then follow up with the CBC or other media.
posted by heatherlogan at 2:37 PM on January 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by heatherlogan at 2:37 PM on January 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
I agree that the fastest and easiest way to try and get some action is to report this to the MOL and/or the municipality. However, just looking at the latest press releases, it appears that MOL enforcement efforts will be more focused on ensuring that adequate covid safety precautions are in place in workplaces, rather than making determinations about who can and cannot truly work from home.
In the event that enforcement agencies don't solve this problem and/or they're not able to address it quickly, I think Cheng should seek legal advice about what his options are in this situation. It might be worth trying either the Pro Bono Ontario free legal advice hotline, and/or the Workers Action Center hotline to start with since they're free and there's no downside to contacting them and seeing if someone there can give him some advice. This must be a fairly common issue right now, and hopefully someone at one of those hotlines can provide some guidance.
posted by persimmons at 4:49 PM on January 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
In the event that enforcement agencies don't solve this problem and/or they're not able to address it quickly, I think Cheng should seek legal advice about what his options are in this situation. It might be worth trying either the Pro Bono Ontario free legal advice hotline, and/or the Workers Action Center hotline to start with since they're free and there's no downside to contacting them and seeing if someone there can give him some advice. This must be a fairly common issue right now, and hopefully someone at one of those hotlines can provide some guidance.
posted by persimmons at 4:49 PM on January 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Here's a story about similar shenanigans being pulled by Costco. It sounds like contacting the Ministry of Labour is the right approach.
posted by heatherlogan at 8:43 AM on January 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by heatherlogan at 8:43 AM on January 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by sardonyx at 12:44 PM on January 14, 2021 [5 favorites]