Can an employee work remotely due to rising gas prices?

Can an employee choose to work remotely due to the rising cost of gas?

Even when with the rising costs of gas, employees do not have the right to refuse to report to work. If the terms of your employment required you to work in person at your workplace prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, you can’t refuse to return to the workplace. Your employer has the right to insist that you return to in-person work.

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It is the employee’s responsibility to make sure that they can get to and from work for their designated work hours. This may mean driving themselves in a personal vehicle or taking advantage of alternative modes of transportation like carpooling or taking a bus or train.

WATCH: An Ottawa employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP discussed the impact of high gas prices on employees during an interview with Global News.

Does my employer have to accommodate me if I need to work remotely?

Yes, an employer must accommodate an employee who needs to work remotely because of a medical condition. If an employee suffers from a medical condition that prevents them from being able to return to work in person, the employee can request an accommodation by providing a doctor’s note. The note should outline that the employee is unable to work in person for medical reasons and requires accommodation. The employer then has the duty to accommodate the employee’s medical restrictions, as long as it is reasonably possible.

WATCH Lior Samfiru, a Toronto employment lawyer and Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, answers questions about the duty to accommodate in Canada on The Employment Law Show.

What if I can’t afford the price of gas to get to work?

When it comes to rising gas prices, an employer’s duty to accommodate an employee may be triggered if:

• Afford to pay for gas to drive to and from work in their personal vehicle;
• Are unable to use public transportation due to a medical condition; and
• There aren’t any other ways for them to get to work.

The employer would be required to allow the employee to work remotely on a temporary basis. The employee would still have to demonstrate to the employer that they are in a precarious financial situation and provide a supporting doctor’s note.

Could employees use rising gas prices to help negotiate to work from home?

In some circumstances, this may be successful. If the rising gas prices are causing a significant financial burden, and no other modes of transport are available besides a personal vehicle, and they have the ability to work remotely, that employee should speak with their employer to see if they agree to remote work on a temporary basis, while we continue to experience record-high gas prices.

While it would be reasonable for an employer to grant this request in such circumstances, the employer still does not have a legal obligation to allow remote work.

Who has the final say about where work is performed by employees?

The employer has the final say about where an employee must perform their work. Most employers should be open to granting temporary requests for remote work arrangements if the rising gas prices are putting a heavy financial strain on an employee, but at the end of the day, the employer ultimately decides where the employee will perform their work.

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What if I worked remotely before the COVID-19 pandemic?

An employer does not have the right to make a significant change to the terms of employment without the employee’s consent. If the terms of your employment were that you worked completely remotely prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, or if you were permitted to work from home on an unlimited basis, the employer does not have the right to change this and force you to report to the workplace.

In these circumstances, an employee has two options:

• They can accept the move to in-person work, in which case, it would become a permanent term of their employment moving forward; or
• They can refuse the change. If an employee is unable or unwilling to accept the change to in-person work, they may be able to make a case for constructive dismissal, leave their job, and pursue their full severance.