Various laws protect employees and job seekers. These laws and their accompanying regulations cover human rights, employment standards, insurance, contracts, workers’ compensation, and employment equity. There are also regulations that govern how professionals must behave toward their clients.
Understanding how these laws and regulations protect your patient can help them assert their rights when they try to stay at work, return to work, or find a new job. However, if they are being treated unfairly, launching a complaint under these laws is often a last resort. It can be stressful, sometimes costly, and can likely hurt their relationships at work. It is better to encourage patients to pro-actively foster and maintain good communication and relationships in the workplace before situations become severe. Ideally, the patient’s employer will have good disability-management practices in place that will prevent unfair treatment of employees with disabilities. If not, there are non-profit organizations providing general information on human rights or legal representation to individuals and advice.
