Question: When can Unionized employees in Toronto and across Ontario hire their own labour, human rights, or occupational health and safety lawyers?
Answer: Unionized employees in Toronto and across Ontario can hire Franklin Law’s labour lawyers, human rights lawyers, and occupational health and safety lawyers in many more situations than web searches would lead them to believe.
The facts about Unionized employees hiring their own lawyers
If you are a Unionized employee looking to get some legal advice or legal representation from a knowledgeable labour lawyer, human rights lawyer, or occupational health and safety lawyer in Ontario, the web can be a very discouraging place.
The first few search results that you are likely to see are posts in which Unionized employees are cautioned about the risks of hiring their own lawyers or posts that suggest that Unionized workers cannot hire their own lawyers because Unions are the exclusive bargaining agents of employees in their bargaining units.
These posts do not provide a full picture of all of the legal and non-legal options available to Unionized employees or Union members who, for one reason or another, feel it necessary to seek out the services of a private bar labour, human rights, or occupational health and safety lawyer. At best these posts can be discouraging to Unionized employees like you, and at worst they can be downright misleading.
It is true that there are some situations in which a private bar lawyer cannot represent a Unionized employee without the express permission of that employee’s Union. There are however at least 10 situations in which Unionized employees or Union members, like you, may be able hire their own labour lawyer, human rights lawyer, or occupational health and safety lawyer and pursue redress independent of, or with relatively little resistance from, their Union.
Top 10 ways in which Franklin Law provides legal support, advice, and representation to Unionized Employees in Toronto and across Ontario
Franklin Law is one of a handful of employment, labour, and human rights law firms in Ontario that is experienced in, and committed to, representing all workers – non-Unionized and Unionized – when they face injustice at work. Because we know how hard it can be to get trustworthy legal information, advice, and representation when you are a Unionized employee, we thought it would be of benefit to let you know about the top 10 ways in which our labour lawyers, human rights lawyers, and occupational health and safety lawyers provide Unionized employees and members from Toronto and across Ontario with support, legal advice, and legal representation.
- Franklin Law helps Unionized employees to rebuild their relationship with their Unions.
- Franklin Law provides Unionized employees with second opinions, and consults with Unionized employees about their legal rights, potential options, potential remedies, and potential risks inside and outside of the mediation process and/or grievance arbitration process.
- Franklin Law represents Unionized employees in the grievance arbitration process with the express permission of their Unions.
- Franklin Law represents Unionized employees in human rights-based discrimination, harassment, and reprisal complaints against Employers under the Human Rights Code, Canadian Human Rights Act, and other human rights-based legislation.
- Franklin Law represents Unionized employees in occupational health and safety-based reprisal complaints against Employers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
- Franklin Law represents Unionized employees in duty of fair representation (DFR) complaints against Unions.
- Franklin Law represents Unionized employees in human rights-based discrimination, harassment, and reprisal complaints against Unions under the Human Rights Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act, and other human rights-based legislation.
- Franklin Law represents Unionized employees in the grievance arbitration process where their Collective Agreements or home statutes provide that an employee can do so independent of their Union or Association.
- Franklin Law represents Unionized employees in breach of contract cases against their Unions in the Courts when they believe that their Unions have breached the terms of Union Constitutions.
- Franklin Law empowers Unionized employees through a series of Union-focused courses and workshops.
If you believe that you are a Unionized employee facing one of the situations described above and you want to better understand your legal options, please contact us to book a consultation with one of our labour lawyers, human rights lawyers, or occupational health and safety lawyers.