For several years, the interpretation of the law required that a replacement worker be inside the workplace during a work stoppage to violate the labor code.
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A recent ruling that concluded that the anti-scabies provisions of the Quebec labor code apply to remote work is well “founded,” Labor Minister Jean Boulet said Monday.
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He said that the ruling handed down last month by the Tribunal administratif du travail is “compatible” with what he has always thought, that the laws apply to teleworkers, even if they are not physically within the establishment of their employer.
Administrative Law Judge Pierre-Étienne Morand sided with the Unifor union in ruling that if an employer uses telecommuting, it is expanding its “establishment” to include those who work from home under the employer’s authority.
For several years, the definition that was accepted required a replacement worker to work inside the workplace during a strike or lockout in order to violate the labor code.
With telecommuting becoming more widespread during the pandemic, many had no more workplaces.
“With the fragmentation of the workplace, more and more people are working from home or somewhere other than the specific workplace,” said Boulet. “So I find that this decision is founded.”
Boulet said he asked the Consultative Committee du Travail et de la Main-d’oeuvre, which has representation from both the employer and the union, for an opinion, and their advice was the same.
But the minister did not want to elaborate and wondered aloud if the decision could “be subject to other decisions to the contrary.”
Reference-montrealgazette.com