CHAUDHRI: Can your employer force you back into the office?

While most of my columns as of late have been laser focused on the impact of tariffs to employment law in this country, I would be failing you if I didn't share a meaningful update to the law surrounding remote work.
I have written extensively about return to work mandates post-COVID, including the hybrid models rolled out by tech giants like Apple and Meta. Earlier this year, I wrote about the reactions to the immediate to work mandate impacting two million federal workers in the United States.
Return to work mandates have, hands down, created the great divide between employers and employees.
But the recent Alberta case of Nickles v. 628810 Alberta Ltd. provides a common sense analysis to the legality around requests for employees to return to the office.
Margaret Nickles was the office manager of a vein clinic for 37 years. She predominately worked from home for the entirety of her employment. Nickles did come into the office on occasion and when needed but usually at her own discretion.
CHAUDHRI: Are you being quiet-fired?
CHAUDHRI: Recruitment to new job can mean higher damages in court
CHAUDHRI: Time for Canadian businesses to make a turn around
There was a change in ownership and the new owner rolled out a mandate to 'return' employees to work in the office. Nickles objected as she always worked remotely. Her role was never 'in office.'
In response her employer gave her a three-month notice of the change but insisted she must, after the three months, come in to work in office. When Nickles refused to agree, the employer further revised its offer suggesting she could work two-and-a-half days in the office per week. But the employer reserved the right to alter the days in office to full-time at some later point.
Again, Nickles refused to agree and she sued her employer for constructive dismissal. She brought an application for summary judgment to resolve her case.
In court, Justice Farrington noted the distinction between Nickles' employment scenario and that of a COVID working arrangement by finding, 'The COVID return-to-work template does not fit this paradigm. This was an arrangement where the work was always from home.'
The judge went on to find that the work-from-home arrangement was an integral part of Nickles employment contract and she was entitled to reasonable notice of the change to that term.
On that point, Justice Farrington found, 'The notice given was less than three months for a 37 year employee. I am satisfied that there was a constructive dismissal.'
While the court didn't have enough evidence to determine what Nickles damages are, one can rest assured that they will be substantial given her 37 years of tenure.
The take away from this case is that any employee that commenced a position by working remotely (and not in response to COVID), can reasonably argue that the remote element of the job is integral to the employment contract. This means true remote employees can resist sweeping return-to-work mandates or hybrid models.
However, if you principally worked in person and were permitted for a period of time to work remotely due to COVID, the court may not see it the same way and view a return-to-work mandate as being a reasonable step for an employer to take.
Either way, an employer should provide reasonable notice of a return-to-work mandate. For a 37 year employee like Nickles, three months simply did not fit the bill.
Have a workplace problem? Maybe I can help! Email me at and your question may be featured in a future column.
The content of this article is general information only and is not legal advice.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Hamilton Spectator

an hour ago

• Hamilton Spectator

Rejecting Trump's rhetoric, Maine's governor heads to Maritimes to build ties

HALIFAX - Maine's governor is heading to the Maritimes next week with hopes a charm offensive will slow the rapid drop in Canadian tourist visits to her state. In a release issued Friday, Janet Mills says she's aware the historically close relationship between New England and its northern neighbours has been challenged by U.S. president Donald Trump's tariffs and his rhetoric about Canada becoming the 51st state. According to U.S. federal border crossing data released Friday, 85,000 fewer Canadians entered Maine in May than in the same month a year ago, a drop of about 27 per cent. The governor says she will spend three days meeting with premiers, appearing in local media and visiting businesses in hope of sending a message that Maritimers remain 'welcome in Maine' despite Trump's trade policies. On Monday, the governor will stop in Saint John, N.B., where she intends to visit businesses with links to Maine and she then will travel to Fredericton to hold talks with New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt. On Wednesday, Mills will meet with Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston in Halifax and tour a marine technology centre. Last month, the governor unveiled new, bilingual signs welcoming Canadian visitors, which are being placed in windows around the state. On June 13, in her weekly radio address, Mills said she wants to ensure the 'historic friendship and deeply intertwined economies last for generations to come.' 'It's not just our economies – we are connected so deeply by mutual economic advantages and on centuries-old familial, cuisine, language, and cultural bonds that far supersede politics,' she told her listeners, reminding them that Canada is the United States' closest and most important trading partner. The Democratic Party member said Trump's 'roller coaster tariffs' are unsettling business in her state and 'making our Canadian neighbors feel unwelcome in the United States.' In 2024, nearly 800,000 Canadian visitors spent approximately US$498 million in Maine, according to the state's Office of Tourism. Overall, the data showed Maine welcomed 14.8 million visitors, who spent more than US$9.2 billion, supporting 115,900 jobs and generating US$5.4 billion in wages. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .

Yahoo

an hour ago

• Yahoo

CHAUDHRI: How businesses can stay ahead of workplace issues

My origin story as a business owner started in 2021 when I launched my own firm – Workly Law. With some savings I created a website, registered a business number and opened a trust account. I rented a very small private office in a co-working space. I was also a very new mom operating on my then seven-month-old child's erratic sleep schedule. Then, I hired my first employee; a sharp lawyer, newly called to the bar. Even though I was an employment lawyer myself, I had a lot to learn about how to grow my business while also creating a workplace that could retain talent and grow. I drafted my own employment contracts and then considered my own workplace policies. How would I manage sick time, remote work requests and vacations? Also, there were a slew of mandatory policies I had to roll out just to be legally compliant. CHAUDHRI: Terminations can be hard to fight – even for the powerful CHAUDHRI: Multinational corporations beware – one size does not fit all CHAUDHRI: Alleging cause requires hard evidence I recall this period as one of mild frenzy. We had to grow our footprint in the marketplace, retain new clients and hire lawyers. Any business owner will agree that creating a good workplace is not something that springs up organically. It's more like a finicky rose bush. It needs watering, tending to, and sometimes a little pruning. Do this with discipline and something starts to blossom. As time goes on, I have supported more and more employers to help navigate the legal challenges in their workplaces. This year, with my team, we created a 2025 employer guide. Our guide breaks down key employer obligations like the following: Changes to the Employment Standards Act – On a very regular basis, the Ontario Employment Standards Act is updated with new legal obligations that employers are required to comply with on an immediate basis. Our guide sets a framework for what employers need to do to be legally compliant in 2025. The right way to manage a sick leave – The law has changed on what documentation employers can seek to support an employee medical leave. We have set out best practices for employers to follow. The legal implications of remote work – Employers are increasingly interested in how to return employees to the office while retaining as much of your workforce as possible. Key clauses you need in every employment agreement – From strong termination clauses to confidentiality agreements, our guide lays out what every employer should consider when hiring a new employee. It has been a challenge but also a thrilling experience to put what I've learned as an employment lawyer and a business owner into a document that can help other businesses. Like anything, it will evolve as I learn more and as the world of employment law evolves. Being a business owner is a high privilege, but it is one that is steeped obligation. Business owners are the guardians of the livelihoods of their workers. We have to try, as best we can, to get it right. Have a workplace problem? Maybe I can help! Email me at sunira@ and your question may be featured in a future column. The content of this article is general information only and is not legal advice.

Business Insider

2 hours ago

• Business Insider

Does Canada have UBI? Everything you need to know about the country's basic income programs.

As more basic income pilots and programs launch in the United States, Canada is following suit. Recently, politicians in Canada have considered how to implement no-strings-attached money initiatives, especially as many citizens lost jobs during the pandemic and the cost of living has increased. These discussions have drawn on studies and trials dating back nearly a century. As dozens of basic income programs in the United States spread, some leading policy experts have discussed whether these initiatives could be extended to a universal level. Other countries with basic income programs and experiments include Brazil, China, Germany, and India. Advocates for universal basic income — which offers recurring cash payments to all individuals in a population, regardless of their socioeconomic status — say Canada has the resources to create a program that covers every citizen. While universal income would be on a universal scale across a population, basic income programs typically target lower-income or vulnerable populations. Organizations in some provinces are testing what basic income could look like on a local level through guaranteed basic income pilots — recurring cash payments geared toward specific groups, like vulnerable populations. While many Canadian politicians across the political spectrum support basic income, some argue that these programs are costly to the local economy. Support from residents, meanwhile, varies. About 60% of Canadians support guaranteed basic income, while 37% support universal basic income, according to a poll published in 2022 by the market research firm Narrative Research. To be sure, cash payments can't replace full-time income or lift everyone out of poverty, but it can give many lower-income residents more opportunities to engage with the economy, said Sheila Regehr, a founding member and chairperson of the Basic Income Canada Network, an organization working to expand basic income access across the country. "From a fiscally conservative perspective, that little bit of investment could save a ton of money down the road and get better results for everything," Regehr told Business Insider, referring to the initial expense and potential benefits of basic income. "This idea we had several generations ago to get a good job, stay in a company for life, that doesn't happen anymore." Shortly after the pandemic began, talks about the efficacy of basic income in Canada accelerated. In 2020, 50 senators sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, and Finance Minister Bill Morneau commending them for their actions and calling for a minimum basic income. And in the last federal election in 2021, 189 candidates — representing 46% of Canada's electoral districts — pledged to support basic income. Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer found that between 2022 and 2023, a universal basic income would cost $87.6 billion but would cut poverty by at least 40% in nearly every province; the cost of poverty totals about $80 billion each year, the PBO estimates. "We certainly have the capacity, there is no question that we do," Regehr said. In 2021, Ontario Sen. Kim Pate introduced Bill S-233 and Winnipeg MP Leah Gazan introduced Bill C-233, creating the country's first national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income for people over the age of 17. Both bills are now under consideration in the Senate. Canada, which has an Old Age Security pension, already has a version of basic income for older residents called the Guaranteed Income Supplement. The GIS is a monthly payment distributed to low-income pensioners aged 65 and older. The maximum monthly payment is $1,087 for someone who is single, divorced, or widowed. "Getting a government check has no stigma to it here; it's just something that happens," Regehr said. Canada's experiments with basic income Basic income experiments in Canada are not new. Talk of implementing a basic income dates back to the 1930s in Alberta, though the first major experiment took place in Manitoba starting in 1974. That project, called Mincome, was studied after completion, and researchers found that participants — who received $3,800, $4,800, or $5,800 a year through 1979 — on the whole continued to work and had higher secondary school graduation rates. Researchers also found that there was an 8.5% drop in hospitalizations for participants at the program's completion. Four decades later, Ontario launched one of the biggest pilots in Canadian history, the Ontario Basic Income Pilot Project. The pilot, whose participants were mostly employed and lower-income, gave up to $16,989 annually for single participants aged 18 to 64 and $24,027 for couples. Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government canceled the pilot just 10 months after payments were first distributed. Reasons for the cancellation included high costs and indications that the program didn't help people contribute enough to the economy. Still, interviews with participants after the pilot found that basic income helped them better afford necessities than traditional welfare payments and assisted in long-term financial planning. A 2020 Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis study determined that a basic income could create 600,000 jobs and contribute $80 billion to Canada's economy in five years, potentially generating $400 billion in additional GDP during that period. Current basic income programs in Canada Various basic income and cash transfer pilots are ongoing, including in Newfoundland and Labrador for people between the ages of 60 and 64. Quebec has a basic income of $1,309 monthly for people with limited income, according to Quebec's government website. Prince Edward Island, which recently hosted a conference on basic income, started its T-BIG pilot — the Targeted Basic Income Guarantee — in 2021 for over 600 people. The program gives cash to participants to bring them within 85% of the federal poverty level. Meanwhile, a few provinces, including Saskatchewan, have debated adopting a sovereign wealth fund that pays dividends similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund. In 2021, the British Columbia Basic Income Panel created 65 recommendations for implementing targeted basic income programs for people with disabilities, young Canadians aging out of government care, and women escaping violence. However, the panel recommended overhauling certain social programs and suggested against a general basic income. "We have concluded that moving to a system around a basic income for all as its main pillar is not the most just policy option," the report reads. "The needs of people in this society are too diverse to be effectively answered simply with a cheque from the government." The province's New Leaf Experiment has seen promising results. In New Leaf's first rendition, launched in 2018, which gave $7,500 total upfront to 50 people experiencing homelessness with a control group of 65 people, participants did not increase spending on goods like drugs or alcohol and spent 99 fewer days unhoused, according to a research note on the pilot's outcomes. The pilot also helped participants with financial literacy and getting them proper IDs and paperwork. Results are forthcoming for another iteration, which started in 2022. "The findings are that they work more hours, they get paid more per hour, and a lot of the individuals we're working with are accessing training," said Amber Dyce, CEO of Foundations For Social Change, a charitable organization that runs the New Leaf pilot. "By getting the cash transfer, they have more breathing room. They're trying to empower themselves to become more financially stable through employment."