The Act respecting labour standards contains provisions on prohibited practices that protect the majority of Québec workers, whether they are full or part time.
No employer or employer's agent may impose a sanction upon an employee in the following circumstances:
No employer or employer's agent may impose a sanction against an employee because she is pregnant. In such circumstances, none of the following measures may be imposed against the employee:
No employer may impose any of the following measures against an employee who has reached the age of retirement or has accumulated the number or years of service required to retire:
Lastly, no employer may impose a sanction upon an employee:
Any employee may file a complaint with the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail if the employee believes that he or she has been the victim of a prohibited practice. If an employee files a complaint, the employee must prove that the sanction was imposed shortly after the event. The Act stipulates a presumption in the employee's favour in that respect.
An employee who is the victim of a prohibited practice has 45 days from the imposing of the sanction to file a complaint with the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail.
For an employee who is forced to retire or who has a sanction imposed on him because he refuses to retire, the time period is 90 days.
The following employees are not entitled to the stipulated recourse when forced to retire:
Temporary interruption of an employee’s work for a specified period, without severing his contract of employment. The employee may be deprived of his wages during this period. This generally involves a disciplinary sanction.
Change in the conditions of employment. This may include reassignment to another workstation or another location, a significant reduction in the number of working hours, a reduction in wages, a substantial change of duties, a reduction in the level of responsibilities, etc.
A measure, the effect of which is to distinguish an individual or a group of individuals from others. The measure is applied to the detriment of the individuals who are victims of the measure in such a way as to be detrimental to the employees in question.
Any vengeance measure taken against an employee following the exercise of one of his rights under the Act or for any other situation stipulated in section 122.
It is enough for the employee to show that he wishes to avail himself of an advantage stipulated in the Act in good faith and in apparent compliance with the law. In the case of an absence for sickness or accident, the employee must have been working for the same enterprise for at least 3 months and not have been absent for more than 26 weeks over a 12-month period.
Simultaneity relationship between two facts, two phenomena.
Reasoning found in a law which constitutes a waiver of the need to submit evidence or which makes it possible to conclude, if the opposite is not proven, that the law was violated.
Do you believe that you were the victim of a prohibited practice?
Before imposing a sanction on an employee or terminating his employment…