Hello.
I have a coworker that took a couple of days off because she has high blood pressure. 180 instead of 140. the doctor told her that if this keeps going she will have a stroke.
so she spoke with her manager and the manager said she can’t take time off.
my coworker has a doctor’s note and everything stating she has high blood pressure.
she is a mother with 1 daughter.
our manager treats us pretty bad. nothing overtly degrading but treats us like ‘staff’. she restricted the vacation days to 2 weeks in a row even though we have 3 weeks to take.
another coworker wanted to take 3 weeks in a row to visit his father in calgary but our manager said no. only 2 weeks. take the other week another time.
she treats us bad… but again not overtly.
is there a canadian law that can backup the first coworker and her needed time off?
our manager threatened to fire her if she takes time off.
what are the steps she can take?
the manager took it to her manager and they both said that the coworker has a bad attitude.
should we voice record everything?.. video tape?..
Note: The following should not be construed as legal advice.
There are a couple of avenues to go through here:
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Workers’ Compensation. Doesn’t pay that well, but if her doctor is willing to sign documentation saying she is unable to work, she is entitled to time off and must have a job to return to.
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Take it to your provincial Labour Standards Board. They may force the employer to allow the stress leave. This may be unpaid leave until #1. kicks in.
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Civil court. A man here in NS successfully received compensation because shift work had caused him to develop insomnia. (The decison was, however, appealed successfully at a higher court). One might argue that the stress of being unable to take entitled leave has even worsened the problem. Time and cost are a problem here.
Its been my experience that employers do not like the fact that the Labour Standards Board has been contacted. It makes them nervous. In short, the employer likes the employee less but tends to treat them lawfully. In the long run this may or may not help as the employer may find legitimate reason for termination down the road.
Note: Secretly recording conversations is pretty well pointless as it is generally inadmissable in Canadian legal proceedings. Do, however, document everything very carefully. Verbatim if possible, including who was present when what was said, time, place, etc. This will be very valuable to a lawyer, LSB case worker or Labour Standards Tribunal.
Thanks for your reply!
I will document things more carefully and diligently…
Is there anything else that can be done?