Canada’s business leaders say the laws that govern labour and employment are out of balance, favouring employees and not balanced with the rights and responsibilities of employers. In particular, business leaders are frustrated by constructive dismissal laws, which some respondents volunteer are ambiguous and do not “put the collective rights of the public (especially where safety is involved) ahead of the individual employee's rights.” There is particular frustration with human rights legalisation governing disabilities and drug and alcohol dependency. Respondents strongly disagree that in some cases an employer may be prevented from terminating an employee who has a drinking problem, including being intoxicated while at work, as the human rights legislation states this may constitute discrimination based on a disability

There are several aspects of laws that govern employment that are nonetheless supported by respondents in this business panel including: strong support for mandatory two weeks vacation and modest support for unpaid family leave, like the one legislated in BC.

These are the key findings of this week’s online survey of CEOs and business leaders for publication in the Financial Post under the sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

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