Employee Caregiver Accommodation in Canada

An employee’s caregiving responsibilities can engage human-rights protection based on family status, but Canada does not have one national caregiver-accommodation test. The protected relationship, threshold for discrimination, evidence required and undue-hardship analysis depend on the law governing the workplace. Employers should identify that law before treating a request as either a protected need or an ordinary scheduling preference. Most employees are governed by provincial or territorial human-rights and employment-standards law. Federally regulated workplaces use federal law. A collective agreement, employment contract or workplace policy may add procedural or substantive rights. Do not assume a test developed in one province controls another.