off-duty conduct
Disciplining Employees
for Off-Duty Conduct
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR EMPLOYEE IS “ONE OF THEM”
It is hard to believe that in 2017, an article discussing the rights of employers who learn that their
employees are spending their off-duty hours at neo-Nazi rallies and demonstrations would be con-sidered
timely and relevant. Unfortunately, the reality is that recent events in the United States
involving demonstrations by “white nationalists” (also known as white supremacists or neo-Nazis)
have made it necessary for employers to consider what they would do if such a situation were to arise.
In the days following the most infamous demonstration, several participants were
“outed” online and in at least one case, found themselves out of a job.
So as a Canadian employer, what can you do if or when you
find out that one of your employees is a white supremacist/
racist/neo-Nazi?
While this may seem like a novel issue, employ-ers
have long had to deal with the ill-advised
off-duty actions of their employees. In recent
years, there have been a few memora-ble
cases in which individuals have lost
their jobs as a result of off-duty con-duct,
often – though not always
– online. Most people will remem-ber
the employee of Hydro One
who was immediately dismissed
after a video of him yelling sex-ually
inappropriate comments
at a female news reporter went
viral (although he was subse-quently
reinstated following a
grievance arbitration).
It is important to remem-ber
that as an employer, you
have the right to dismiss an
employee at any time for al-most
any reason, or no reason
at all (keep in mind that the sit-uation
is somewhat different for
unionized employees as well as
non-managerial employees in feder-ally
regulated workplaces). Employees
terminated on a without-cause basis
are entitled to notice of dismissal or sev-erance
pay. Other than this financial burden
(the amount of which will depend on a number
of factors, including whether or not the employee
has an enforceable employment agreement with a
By Stuart Rudner and Brittany Taylor
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HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ OCTOBER 2017 ❚ 31
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