assigned to a lawyer - quebec...the lawyer assigned to your complaint will contact you when they...

HOW THE PROCESS WORKS

The lawyer assigned to your complaint will contact you when they receive the file. The CNESST also forwarded your complaint to the Administrative Labour Tribunal, which is responsible for hearing your case.

At this stage, the lawyer has to wait to be given a date for your case to be heard. The lawyer has no control over how long this will take because hearing dates are set by staff at the Administrative Labour Tribunal.

A hearing before the Administrative Labour Tribunal is like a hearing in a court of law. For example, you will be asked to give your version of the events. You may also have witnesses testify. The employer has the same rights. Your attendance is mandatory. The hearing may last more than one day depending on how complex the case is.

In the meantime, if you no longer work for your employer, you must try to find a new job. Make a note of all the steps you take (e.g., telephone calls, sending out job applications, doing interviews). At the hearing, you will have to provide proof of the steps that you have taken.

Your complaint for psychological harassment, a prohibited practice, dismissal without just and sufficient cause, differential treatment with respect to pension plans or other employee benefits has now been assigned to one of the CNESST’s lawyers. Their services are free. Here’s how your complaint will be handled and how the process works.

Psychological harassment, prohibited practice, dismissal without just and sufficient cause, differential treatment with respect to pension plans or other employee benefits

To contact us cnesst.gouv.qc.ca 1 844 838-0808 cnesst.gouv.qc.ca

Commission des normes, de l’équité,de la santé et de la sécurité du travail

MY COMPLAINT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO A LAWYERWhat happens now?

Before the hearing is held, various things could happen:

1 Your employer may contact you to ask you to return to your job or to offer you another position;

2 Your employer may send you a settlement offer;

3 You may obtain information concerning the sale of your employer’s company;

4 Your employer may want you to undergo an independent medical assessment;

5 You may consider resigning from your job with the employer.

If any of these things happen, you must inform your lawyer.

As soon as the hearing date is set, the lawyer will send you a notice to appear indicating the place, the date and the time of the hearing. The lawyer will contact you in the weeks prior to the hearing to help prepare your testimony, taking their availability and the complexity of the case into account.

Several months, sometimes more than a year, may go by from the time the Administrative Labour Tribunal receives the file to the time of the hearing.

At any time, from the time your lawyer receives the file until the case is heard, the Administrative Labour Tribunal may wish to organize a conciliation session. This is an approach that is used to settle a complaint amicably where the people concerned try to reach an agreement.

However, both your and your employer’s consent are required. Your lawyer will assist and advise you during the conciliation session.

THE ADMINISTRATIVE LABOUR TRIBUNAL RENDERS ITS DECISION

The Administrative Labour Tribunal has 90 days from the last day of the hearing to accept or reject your complaint. Its decision is final and without appeal.

Whatever the type of complaint, the Administrative Labour Tribunal will determine the amount your employer must pay you, where applicable, as compensation for the wages and other benefits you have not received since the dismissal. It will take into account the steps that you have taken to find a new job, since you are obliged to limit the damages suffered as a result of the loss of employment. If you are unable to provide proof of the steps that you have taken, the Administrative Labour Tribunal may reduce the amount the employer is required to pay.

The decisions rendered by the Tribunal vary depending on the type of complaint filed.

Complaint for psychological harassment

If the Administrative Labour Tribunal accepts your complaint, that is, it finds that you were the victim of psychological harassment and that the employer failed to take reasonable measures to prevent and put an end to the psychological harassment, it may render any decision it considers fair and reasonable.

In particular, it may order the employer to:

1 pay you an indemnity that corresponds to the lost wages, where applicable;

2 pay you punitive and moral damages and interest;

3 pay for the psychological support that you require for a reasonable period, which it determines;

4 reinstate you in your job;

5 take reasonable measures to put an end to the harassment;

6 pay you an indemnity for loss of employment;

7 change your disciplinary record.

Complaint for a prohibited practice

If the Administrative Labour Tribunal accepts your complaint, that is, it finds that you were the victim of a prohibited practice, it may:

1 order your employer to reinstate you in the job that you held prior to the measure taken by the employer and to pay you, as an indemnity, the equivalent of the wages and other benefits that you did not receive as a result of the dismissal, suspension or transfer;

2 order the employer to cancel a sanction or cease taking discriminatory measures or reprisals and to pay you an indemnity, where applicable.

However, if you work as a domestic, the Administrative Labour Tribunal may only order your employer to pay you an indemnity that corresponds to the wages and other benefits that you did not receive as a result of your dismissal.

Complaint for dismissal without just and sufficient cause

If the Administrative Labour Tribunal accepts your complaint, that is, it finds that you were dismissed without just and sufficient cause, it may:

1 order your employer to reinstate you in the job that you held before your dismissal;

2 order your employer to pay you the amounts lost since your dismissal;

3 render any other decision it considers fair and reasonable.

Complaint for differential treatment with respect to pension plans or other employee benefits

If the Administrative Labour Tribunal accepts your complaint, that is, it finds that you were the victim of a prohibited distinction, it may render any decision it considers fair and reasonable, taking into account all the circumstances of the matter. In particular, it may order:

1 that the distinction no longer be made;

2 that you be made a member of a pension plan or make other employee benefits applicable to you;

3 your employer to pay you an indemnity to compensate for the loss resulting from the distinction.

QUICK REFERENCE TOOL FOR TRACKING MY COMPLAINT

EMPLOYER’S NAME

CNESST

TYPE OF COMPLAINT FILED FILE NUMBER

MY LAWYER’S NAME TELEPHONE

Administrative Labour Tribunal

CONCILIATION SESSION

Date Time Room

Address

HEARING