Recently, I was told that my blog posts, although informative, were really written for the benefit of other lawyers. The comment, which I appreciated, was that my breakdown of the legal reasoning in the cases that I wrote about was not as beneficial to employers and employees, as it was to other employment lawyers.

In response, I decided to start a new series of blog posts called, “Did You Know…?” These posts are intended to provide interesting tips and information about employment law and related topics.  I hope you find them quick-to-read, easy-to-absorb, and, most of all, helpful.

For my first post in this series, I wanted to cover the topic of reinstatement of employment. Usually, this comes up in the context of employment governed by a collective bargaining agreement. Reinstatement is available to an employee represented by a union as a remedy in a grievance.

For employees who are not part of a union, damages for pay in lieu of notice (monetary compensation) is typically the remedy sought in the face of a wrongful dismissal. However, the Human Rights Code provides reinstatement as a remedy for non-union employees terminated from their employment as a result of discrimination.

This remedy, although not widely used, is available even when years have passed since the termination of employment. Not too long ago, the Court of Appeal upheld a decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario reinstating an employee who was subjected to discrimination nine years after the employment relationship ended. If you are interested in reading the decision, you can find a link to it here.

This article is intended only to provide general information and does not constitute legal advice. Should you require advice specific to your situation, please feel free to contact me to discuss the matter further.