Deputy MP Freeland confirms some accounts linked to protests have been frozen
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he may be forced to invoke the Emergencies Act to confront the ongoing anti-vaccine protests. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed in a press conference that financial institutions have begun to freeze some accounts of those who are linked to the protests — a move from the government to put a stop to those who are continuing to fund the ongoing demonstrations.
“It is happening -- I do have the numbers in front of me,” Bloomberg reported her as saying.
While this is still a developing situation, it does posit the question of where this would leave Canadian employers? How should an HR leader act if a member of staff claims their bank accounts have been frozen? Is it an HR leader’s role to help or to stand by?
“This is a hard question that is not easily addressed,” Andrew Caldwell, HR advisory manager at Peninsula Canada, told HRD. “There are so many options here that can be taken all depending on the how the employee is taking part in the protest. Is the employee there with a company vehicle? Has the employer indicated that the vehicle needs to be returned, and that this communication has been documented? If so, the employer could showcase they are not directly or indirectly supporting the protest and limit the chances of them having their accounts frozen.”
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From a legal standpoint, it’s more difficult to fathom with the information available right now. Employers have a duty to uphold their part of the employment agreement – including paying staff for work completed – but they also have a duty to uphold the law. Speaking with Jonathan Borrelli, employment lawyer at Keyser Mason Ball, LLP, he advised HR leaders to look at other potential options.
“For an employer who has found they cannot complete a payment of wages to an employee, they shouldn’t give up too easily,” he told HRD. “However, this could lead to other consequences. Regardless of the reasons for why a payment of wages cannot be made to an employee, the employer should take all reasonable steps to ensure the employee is paid as per the employment agreement. A minor change like direct deposit to cheque takes little effort but avoids a potential complaint in the future.”
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Looking beyond the current protests, the situation does throw up questions around an HR leader’s legal and ethical obligations to employees. If an unprecedented situation occurs, it’s always best that HR leaders have some plan to pull out of their back pocket.
“If an employer is affected, they will need to ensure they can cover the cost of the hours an employee has worked and look at doing layoffs to ensure they do not fall behind on paying employees for work done,” added Caldwell. “If the employee’s account is frozen, the employer needs to keep a record of the payments that are owed to the employee and look at maybe issuing cheque to that employee - never make a cash payment as it can’t be tracked.”
It's important to remember that this is an ongoing and undecided situation – and as such there’s a lot of information that’s yet to be released and moves to be determined on. Looking at it purely from a theoretical HR perspective, employers will undoubtedly have some questions and concerns on their mind – specifically around employee acts outside of the workplace and whether or not they pertain to termination. The ongoing divide between the vaccinated and the un-vaccinated has led to a surge in conflicts – something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by HR.
“If an employer faces a situation where they cannot pay an employee as a result of the employee’s allegedly illegal acts, the employer should consider whether the employee’s actions amount to justification termination of employment without notice,” added Borrelli. “There are rare and fact-specific instances where judges have agreed that an employee’s serious off-duty conduct impacted the employer’s reputation such that the employment relationship was irreparably harmed. An employer should ensure they have proper policies on off-duty conduct and complete all investigations into any breach of policy.”