Section 177.1 — Canada Labour Code: Right to request

An employee who has completed six consecutive months of continuous employment with an employer may request from the employer a change to the following terms and conditions of employment: the number of hours that the employee is required to work; the employee’s work schedule; the employee’s location of work; and any terms and conditions that apply to the employee and that are prescribed by regulation. The request shall be made in writing and shall include the employee’s name; the date on which the request is made; a description of the change to the terms and conditions of employment that is requested; the date on which the change would take effect and, if the change is intended to be temporary, the date on which the change would cease to have effect; an explanation of the effect that, in the employee’s opinion, the requested change would have on the employer and the manner in which, in the employee’s opinion, the employer could manage that effect; and any information that may be prescribed by regulation. An employer to whom a request is made shall make one of the following decisions: grant the request; offer to grant the request in part or to make an alternative change to the terms and conditions of employment; or refuse the request on one or more of the following grounds: the requested change would result in additional costs that would be a burden on the employer, the requested change would have a detrimental impact on the quality or quantity of work within the employer’s industrial establishment, on the ability to meet customer demand or on any other aspect of performance within that industrial establishment, the employer is unable to reorganize work among existing employees or to recruit additional employees in order to manage the requested change, there would be insufficient work available for the employee if the requested change was granted, and any ground prescribed by regulation. The employer shall, as soon as possible and not later than 30 days after receiving the request, give written notice to the employee of their decision. The notice in respect of a decision made under paragraph (3)(b) or (c) shall include written reasons for refusing the requested change or for not granting a part of it. The employer may, for the purpose of granting a request made by an employee under paragraph (3)(a) or for the purpose of giving effect to a written agreement with the employee following an offer made under paragraph (3)(b), change the employee’s terms and conditions of employment. However, when there is any other provision under this Part or any provision of any regulations made under this Part that authorizes the employer to make a change to those terms and conditions, they shall make the change under that provision. An employer shall not change, under subsection (5), a term or condition of employment contained in a collective agreement unless the change is agreed to in writing by the employer and the trade union. An employer shall not dismiss, suspend, lay off, demote or discipline an employee because the employee has made a request under subsection (1) or take such a request into account in any decision to promote or train the employee. The Governor in Council may make regulations limiting the number of requests that an employee may make in any year and specifying the information that shall be included in a notice under subsection (4) or an agreement referred to in subsection (5). For greater certainty, nothing in this section limits an employer’s duty to accommodate an employee under any other Act of Parliament. Section 189 applies for the purposes of this Division.