Crown corporation underpaid, overpaid employees over five-year period
Canada Post cannot recover overpayments made to employees over five years because it failed to notify workers their wages might be clawed back, Ontario's Divisional Court ruled.
The December 5, 2025 decision upheld an arbitration award that denied the Crown corporation's attempt to recoup money paid to postmasters and Senior Assistants who were "acting" in higher classification positions.
The employer lost its recovery rights by remaining silent while employees relied on the inflated income.
The dispute began in 2016 when the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association filed a grievance alleging employees acting in higher positions weren't receiving proper pay increments "as if appointed" to those roles. Canada Post denied the claim and continued paying employees according to its own interpretation until Arbitrator Wayne Thistle's first award in 2021 determined the correct calculation method.
That decision revealed some employees had been underpaid while others had been overpaid.
The critical factor that sealed Canada Post's fate was its silence. After the union filed the grievance, the employer did not notify affected employees that recovery might be sought if overpayments were discovered, even though the issue was discussed between the parties at the national level and between counsel.
The arbitrator found within a time period that began eight years before and spanned...
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