Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles - Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
REFUSAL OF EMPLOYMENT
9.10.0 PERSONAL OBJECTIONS
9.10.1 Work Milieu
9.10.2 Union Membership
9.10.3 Moral or Religious Convictions
9.10.4 Police Record
Besides the wages, type of work, hours and distance, which are the reasons most often put forward for refusing employment, the refusal may stem from certain personal expectations that are more or less incompatible with the acceptance of the prospective employment. The following subjects are included in this category:
1) Work milieu;
2) Union membership;
3) Moral or religious convictions;
4) Police record.
When the claimant has good reason to believe that an intolerable situation will occur if the employment offer is accepted, the refusal may be with good cause. This was so decided when a claimant would have been employed under the direction of a person for whom she had previously worked, when a claimant had been dismissed by the same employer due to unsatisfactory services or had left on her own before due to a misunderstanding, or when it was established that the milieu was otherwise unsuitable1.
However, a simple inconclusive statement is not enough2. Good cause was not shown where the statement was merely to the effect that the place was not suitable for any decent girl, that the employer was disorganized, that the premises were old and the conditions objectionable, that there was a great deal of tension at the place of work, that the claimant had filed a grievance against the employer, that the employment was demeaning having to be carried on under unhealthy conditions that the claimant had previously been discharged by the brother of the employer and that her husband objected to her working at the prospective place of work.
Also good cause is not shown merely because one does not know the prospective employer and wants to work for the usual employer, or does not like the prospect of having to work for several employers at the same time.
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- Jurisprudence Index/refusal of work/working conditions/; Jurisprudence Index/refusal of work/objections to employer/; Jurisprudence Index/voluntarily leaving employment/relations at work/unhappy atmosphere/;
- Jurisprudence Index/refusal of work/good cause/.
A refusal is with good cause when acceptance of the prospective employment means the claimant would lose the right to become a member of the union which one wishes to join, or to continue to be a member and observe its lawful rules, or to refrain from becoming a member of the union recognized at the employer's place of business1. It is up to the claimant to show that one's rights would have been infringed upon2.
Yet, the rule infringing on the claimant's rights must be one that was issued directly by the employer or by the union concerned. Consequently, claimants do not have good cause in refusing an offer of employment even when they are compelled to do so by their own union under threat of penalty3.
When a claimant is actively engaged in union matters, a certain period of time may be provided in order to look for employment for which the union has jurisdiction4. The period of time may be calculated on the basis of one week for each year that the claimant was member of the union.
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- EIA 35
- Jurisprudence Index/refusal of work/union hiring hall/;
- Jurisprudence Index/voluntarily leaving employment/applicability/threat by union/;
- Jurisprudence Index/refusal of work/union hiring hall/; Jurisprudence Index/availability for work/restrictions/union jobs/.
9.10.3 Moral or Religious Convictions
A claimant may have good cause in refusing employment because of religious convictions unless they can be put in doubt. Good cause was shown when a person refused to work in a school of another religious denomination1 or neglected to avail himself of an opportunity for an employment that required to work on the religious day of rest2.
In the case of a person of legal age, a refusal motivated by the parents' disapproval of work in a hotel is not with good cause if it is an establishment of good standing. Neither was good cause shown when a person held it as a principle never to cross a picket line3.
Claimants at last are not required to accept employment with respect to which they have fundamental personal ethical objections4.
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- Jurisprudence Index/refusal of work/personal convictions/;
- Jurisprudence Index/availability for work/restrictions/religious objections/;
- see 9.10.2, "Union Membership"
- Jurisprudence Index/voluntarily leaving employment/personal reasons/ethical considerations/.
In one particular case where the claimant made a false statement in order to obtain employment, it was decided that the fear he had of his police record subsequently being discovered, after having learned that some employees knew him, did not provide good cause for refusing to accept the employment. However, the disqualification was reduced to the minimum owing to extenuating circumstances.
