Who is A Federally Regulated Employee?

Employment Law - Federally Regulated Employees is a subset of employment law that is of paramount importance in its own right. Federally regulated employees are governed by the Canada Labour Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. L-2 (the “CLC”), the federal equivalent of the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000. While it bears many similarities to its provincial legislative counterpart, the CLC is unique in that DIVISION XIV - Unjust Dismissal (s. 240 to s. 247) entitles unjustly dismissed employees whom are not managers with a tenure of 12 months or longer to receive reinstatement with back pay. In addition, s. 168 of the Canadian Labour Code clearly prohibits an employer to opt out DIVISION XIV - Unjust Dismissal of the CLC.

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In employment law context, CLC entitles an unjustly dismissed federally regulated employees whom are not managers with a tenure of 12 months or longer to receive reinstatement with back pay. CLC offers a federally regulated employee quasi-union protection, as confirmed in the Supreme Court case, Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., [2016] 1 SCR 770, which includes duty of employer to investigate complaints, entitled to progressive discipline, duty to reinstate employees. The default position in an unjust dismissal situation in the employment law context is to reinstate federally regulated employees. Do note that a claim of Unjust Dismissal is as of right, and cannot be opt out by the federally regulated employee!!

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As a federally regulated employee, If you think you have been unjustly dismissed, or if you are an employer being served with an employment law claim of unjust dismissal, immediate response is needed, as time is of essence.