Imagine going home after a particularly gruelling shift and sleeping for 12 hours straight, only to be called up by your coworker, asking you to come in as soon as possible before you get written up for being late. That can’t be right; your shift doesn’t start until two hours, and then you get the news: the shift schedule has been changed, and you were supposed to be in the office an hour ago. You hurriedly get to the office in just the nick of time and blame the traffic. Here’s the question in all of this: is it allowed for employers to change the schedule of an employee without prior notice? Or is it illegal to give a person a good scare in thinking they might be late to work.
In this blog post, we will discuss whether employers are allowed to change an employee’s schedule without any prior notice at all or whether it might be considered illegal to do so without prior intimation to the employee. As we all know, it can be very confusing to switch schedules ahead of a busy work day and not inform the relevant employees. Let’s start by first understanding the relationship between an employer and the employee as laid out and defined by the Ontario law.
Employee Scheduling: The Particulars
Many places utilize digital tools to schedule shifts, breaks and overall hours for employees to keep up with scheduling demands, as well as balance both the requirements for the workforce on hand, as well as PTO for employees. The more employees a business has, the more challenging it can get to manage and create entirely new schedules to ensure a balance between work and off-days. Factor in requests for time off from employees who may be facing issues at home or might be experiencing an emergency, and all of a sudden scheduling can get very technical and take up much of an employer or manager’s time.
This is why, to ease and simplify the process of employee scheduling, many workplaces and employers utilize software and digital tools to ensure that a proper schedule is created and followed by people. While newer applications may come with connected applications or other tools to help communicate said changes to all employees across the board, some older software or applications may not communicate these changes, and this can get problematic.
In workplaces where no such application is used, and instead a physical planner may be used for that, it gets even more difficult to communicate any changes that may be made to the schedule, which further complicates the order of operations and may further cause clashes among the workforce itself. So, let’s now look at whether employers can change your schedule without notice in Ontario, or does that open them to some sort of liability or legal action from the employee, especially if it results in them being late and subsequently losing their wages.
Can Employers Change Your Schedule Without Notice?
The short answer is yes. The Ontario code does not state explicitly that employers may not change the schedule of an employee without due notice, and neither does it set any limitations on how much the notice needs to be if it is given. But the fact is that it is not illegal for them to do so, and it certainly does not make them liable to legal action if done so, even if it means lost wages or any other implications that might arise from what happens if an employee isn’t informed of this schedule change in time.
Therefore, managers working in administration and who are particularly concerned about the scheduling of employees and ensuring that help is always available while not antagonizing employees by having to call them in on their days off should look for utilizing modern software that allows for smart resource management as well as accounting for help needed and PTO for employees.
Why Is It Not Covered In Ontario Law?
Here is a good question: if it can result in something like lost wages and potential financial and mental duress for an employee, why aren’t employers allowed to change schedules without prior information to the employees? Well, it is one of the obvious points of running a business and enforcing further laws can restrict the freedom of employers and businesses, pressuring them with further rules and regulations that may hinder their performance and that might not reflect well in terms of the business growing, and contributing to the growth of the economy.
The fact is that no business wants their employees to show up late or be misinformed of the schedule, as this will cause not just the employee to lag behind, but the business will also be affected. Especially if it is an employee who is considered central to an operation (like a manager who also has a key to the entire office). Therefore, businesses and employers ensure that any schedule changes are notified to their respective employees as soon as possible, and if there are any changes to be made or any grievances to be considered, they get that out of the way before finalizing the schedule.
Therefore, businesses will always ensure that any schedule changes are communicated adequately to the relevant employees and never see that an employee isn’t informed of the schedule change because, once again, the business stands to lose if it doesn’t do that. This is why employers and managers now utilize communication applications like WhatsApp, Instagram and other specific applications and software that notify employees of a schedule change and even allow them to communicate any concerns or grievances they may have when any such change is announced.
Conclusion
In short, employers are allowed to change your schedule without due notice, and it does not open them up for litigation should anything like a wage loss should happen because of it. However, since scheduling issues and conflicts can affect the business and the employee’s performance as well, businesses and employers take special care in ensuring that such changes are communicated beforehand.
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