Disclosing Work Relationships & John Tory: CTV News Interviews Fiona Martyn

Interview Summary

News of Mayor John Tory’s resignation and the motivation behind it has led to questions and concerns about dating in the workplace and employee rights. Can and should employers implement workplace policies regarding relationships? Ultimately, can employees face consequences if they have engaged in a workplace relationship?

Fiona Martyn, a Toronto employment lawyer and Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP spoke with CTV News on employee rights and possible legal consequences.

Interview Notes

In speaking with CTV, Martyn says employees should always be honest with their employer. “No matter what the work dynamic or how serious the relationship is – it is “always advisable to disclose a relationship.”

Disclosing a relationship could also protect an employee’s rights in the future. “If the relationship ends and one of the parties involved starts to harass the other since it has already been disclosed that there was a relationship between the two, then an employer – regardless of what they perceive to be the merits of that complaint – will have an obligation to look into that complaint,” Martyn says.

Ultimately, Martyn reiterates that employment laws are in place to ensure employees are not penalized for voicing complaints. “There’s what are known as reprisal protections in the Occupational Health and Safety Act legislation that basically prevents the employee from getting punished, or terminated, or suspended as a result of bringing forward with that complaint.”