Undue Hardship Examples in Canadian Employment Law

Employers often say they can’t accommodate an employee because it would cause “undue hardship.” In reality, the legal threshold for undue hardship in Canada is very high, and most workplace accommodation requests do not meet it.

Below are real-world undue hardship examples, explained in plain language, to show when an employer may lawfully refuse accommodation — and when they can’t.

What Counts as Undue Hardship?

Under Canadian employment and human rights law, employers must accommodate employees to the point of undue hardship — not inconvenience, preference, or minor difficulty.

Undue hardship generally requires evidence of:

• Serious health or safety risks
• Excessive financial cost (relative to the employer’s size and resources)
• A lack of reasonable alternatives after good-faith efforts

Undue Hardship vs Inconvenience

Many employers confuse undue hardship with inconvenience.

The following are not undue hardship in most cases:

• Scheduling challenges
• Coworker complaints
• Reduced productivity
• Customer preference
• Discomfort with modified duties
• The need to change existing policies

The law expects employers to adjust the workplace, not deny accommodation at the first sign of difficulty.

Undue Hardship Examples for Employees

Example 1: Modified Work Hours

Employer’s claim:
Adjusting an employee’s hours to accommodate a medical condition would disrupt scheduling.

Legal reality:
Scheduling inconvenience alone is not undue hardship. Employers are generally expected to explore shift changes, job sharing, or modified hours.

Example 2: Remote or Hybrid Work Accommodation

Employer’s claim:
Allowing remote work or hybrid work would be unfair to other employees or harm workplace culture.

Legal reality:
Fairness concerns or generalized preferences do not meet the undue hardship threshold. Employers must assess whether the accommodation is feasible for the specific role.

Example 3: Modified Duties Due to Disability

Employer’s claim:
Reassigning tasks would burden other employees.

Legal reality:
Redistributing duties or adjusting job responsibilities is often part of reasonable accommodation. Coworker resentment is not undue hardship.

Example 4: Cost-Based Refusal

Employer’s claim:
Accommodation is too expensive.

Legal reality:
Cost must be excessive, relative to the employer’s overall resources. For most medium and large employers, accommodation costs rarely amount to undue hardship.

Example 5: Health and Safety Concerns

Employer’s claim:
Accommodation would create a safety risk.

Legal reality:
Only serious, unavoidable health or safety risks qualify. Minor or speculative risks do not meet the legal standard.

When Undue Hardship May Exist

True undue hardship is uncommon, but it may arise in limited situations, such as:

• Accommodation that creates serious, unmanageable safety risks
• Costs that threaten the viability of a small busines
• A lack of reasonable alternatives despite good-faith efforts

Even then, employers must show that all reasonable options were explored before refusing accommodation.

Undue Hardship Examples by Province

While the legal principles are consistent across Canada, how undue hardship is assessed depends on provincial human rights legislation.

Ontario Undue Hardship Examples

In Ontario, employers may only rely on three factors when claiming undue hardship:

• Cost
• Outside sources of funding
• Health and safety

Alberta Undue Hardship Examples

In Alberta, undue hardship is assessed based on evidence of serious difficulty or risk, considering the employer’s size and resources.

British Columbia Undue Hardship Examples

In British Columbia, employers must show that accommodation would cause serious hardship that cannot reasonably be mitigated.

Get Advice Before You Accept an Undue Hardship Refusal

If your employer relies on “undue hardship” to refuse accommodation, it’s important to understand whether that claim meets the legal standard.

Before accepting a refusal, make sure you:

• Know when an employer can — and can’t — rely on undue hardship
• Understand whether reasonable accommodation options were properly considered
• Get clear advice on whether your rights may have been violated

Contact Samfiru Tumarkin LLP to have an employment lawyer review your situation and assess whether your employer has met their legal obligations.

When Alberta courts determine how much severance an employee is owed after termination without cause, they do not rely on employment standards minimums or a fixed formula.

Instead, courts apply the Bardal factors — a set of legal principles Alberta courts use to assess reasonable notice and common law severance.

Understanding how the Bardal factors apply in Alberta helps employees access whether a severance offer reflects what the law actually requires.

What Are the Bardal Factors in Alberta?

Alberta courts use the Bardal factors to determine how much notice or severance a non-unionized employee should receive under common law.

These factors originate from the landmark case Bardal v. Globe & Mail Ltd. and form the foundation of severance law across Canada, including in Alberta.

Rather than focusing on length of service alone, Alberta judges assess the full employment context when determining reasonable notice.

The Four Bardal Factors Alberta Courts Consider

Alberta courts consider four core factors when assessing the Bardal factors:

1️⃣ Age of the Employee

Alberta courts often award longer notice periods to older employees, particularly where age or market conditions make re-employment more difficult.

2️⃣ Length of Service

Longer service generally increases severance entitlement. However, Alberta courts do not treat length of service as decisive on its own. Even short-service employees may be entitled to months of severance in appropriate cases.

3️⃣ Position and Level of Responsibility

Senior, managerial, executive, or highly specialized roles often attract longer notice periods, especially when comparable positions are limited within Alberta’s job market.

4️⃣ Availability of Comparable Employment

Alberta courts closely examine how realistic it is for an employee to find similar work, taking into account:

• Industry conditions in Alberta
• Economic and regional factors
• Specialized skills
• Geographic limitations

This factor often plays a significant role in severance outcomes.

How Alberta Courts Apply the Bardal Factors

Alberta judges do not assign fixed weights to the Bardal factors or apply them mechanically.

Instead, courts:

• Consider all four factors together
• Weigh them in context
• Adjust the notice period based on real-world employment conditions in Alberta

As a result, two Alberta employees with similar service histories can receive very different severance awards.

Bardal Factors and Common Law Severance in Alberta

The Bardal factors form the backbone of common law severance in Alberta.

While Alberta’s Employment Standards Code sets minimum termination notice requirements, courts rely on the Bardal factors to determine an employee’s full severance pay in Alberta.

In many cases, common law severance assessed using the Bardal factors exceeds employment standards minimums by a wide margin.

Is There a Bardal Factors Calculator for Alberta?

Courts do not use a fixed formula when applying the Bardal factors. Each case depends on its own facts and employment context.

That said, tools like the official Severance Pay Calculator use real court decisions and common law principles — including the Bardal factors — to provide a practical estimate of what an Alberta employee may be entitled to receive.

The calculator helps employees in Alberta:

• Understand realistic severance ranges
• Compare an employer’s offer to common law outcomes
• Decide whether further legal review makes sense

When the Bardal Factors Point to a Wrongful Dismissal Claim in Alberta

In Alberta employment law, wrongful dismissal usually means an employer failed to provide reasonable notice or severance, not that the employer acted improperly.

When an employer terminates an employee without cause and provides severance that does not reflect the Bardal factors, the termination may qualify as wrongful dismissal.

Once employers understand their legal exposure under Alberta’s Bardal analysis, most claims resolve through negotiation, not court.

Why Alberta Employers Often Misapply the Bardal Factors

Employers in Alberta often:

• Rely on employment standards minimums
• Use internal severance guidelines
• Overlook regional and industry-specific re-employment challenges

Alberta courts, however, focus on the full employment context, not internal policies alone.

When employers misapply the Bardal factors, employees often accept severance that falls well below what Alberta courts would award.

How an Alberta Employment Lawyer Uses the Bardal Factors

An experienced Alberta employment lawyer:

• Reviews all four Bardal factors together
• Compares outcomes from similar Alberta court decisions
• Assesses whether a termination clause is enforceable
• Confirms whether a severance offer aligns with common law standards

This review helps ensure that a severance offer reflects how Alberta courts actually apply the Bardal factors.

Get Advice Before You Accept a Severance Offer

Once you sign a severance agreement, you usually give up the right to pursue additional compensation.

Before accepting an offer:

• Understand how the Bardal factors apply in Alberta
• Use the Severance Pay Calculator to estimate your entitlement
• Get clear legal advice on whether the offer reflects common law outcomes

Contact Samfiru Tumarkin LLP to review your severance offer and confirm what the law requires your employer to pay.