With good legal support, you can protect your labour rights

In the post-Covid era workers are starting to change their views on how the employee-employer relationship should be handled. No longer content with unfair treatment, many Canadians have left the workforce, but for most, despite labour conditions, a job is a must.

Most employees have experienced working with a boss who asks too much, guilts them to come into work on their day off, or calls them during non-work hours when they are trying to enjoy sweat-earned personal time.

Maybe in the last three years, you’ve been legitimately sick or had a fever after getting your Covid-19 shots, as so many people have. Perhaps your boss forced you to come into work at the threat of reprimand? Strong-arm moves by managers occur more than they should, and they are simply wrong.

The last thing that an overnight worker at a large warehouse or company is thinking about is if there is a “Labour Lawyer Near Me” as he stocks shelves or straps two-by-fours onto long-haul vehicles. However, he should know that as a worker in Ontario, and also at a federal level, Canada-wide, everyone is protected and has rights that cannot be infringed upon, except in very specific circumstances.

In Ontario, an employee cannot be discriminated against for race, gender identity, or sexual orientation. You can’t be held back for any reason due to your characteristics. Furthermore, an employer cannot sanction you or punish you for making a complaint, asking for your days off to be honoured, or taking your allotted 30-minute break, which is required by law every five hours.

Getting to the Human Resources office at work can also feel like walking on the thin edge of the wedge. While some companies like HCR.ca see human resources as an industry and profession in of itself and therefore do a great job with the human resources side of their, plenty companies have human resources workers that are nothing more than yes men to the corporate bosses or who push the agenda of middle management.

Employees will never have truly impartial treatment when the company they work for investigate management using their own internal staff, so make sure to have a good labour relations lawyer on retention. At the very least, keep the number handy in case you are unfairly treated, denied basic rights, or having a workplace accident, and have to make a call.

Nobody in today’s day and age should be taken advantage of when they are at work. It’s imperative that employees know that they have rights and can to use them.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been a great number of people leaving the labour market due to bad bosses or feeling undervalued. Most people still need but nobody wants to work hard and have to deal with workplace strife only to bring home a minimum-wage sized paycheck this not keeping up with the cost of living.

Don’t get taken advantage of for simply doing your job within the confines of your contractual obligations and don’t be a hero — putting in overtime when your supposed to be at home, just for your good deeds to go punished later. Protect yourself.