Worker worked from home for 37 years before employer wanted her to ‘return to the office’

May 07, 2025

Share

“Employers need to be careful anytime they're implementing changes to an employee's contract and not just assume they can unilaterally make the changes they want.”

Those are the cautionary words for employers from Dylan Snowdon, a labour and employment lawyer at Carbert Waite in Calgary, after an Alberta court ruled that a long-serving employee was constructively dismissed when her employer tried to change her longstanding work-from-home arrangement.

The worker was the office manager for an Alberta vein clinic. Hired in 1986, she mostly worked from home right from the beginning, only coming into the office when needed and at her own discretion. During the course of her employment, the clinic changed ownership but she remained in her position.

In 2023, the clinic underwent another change in ownership and the new owners, Functionalab Group, Dermapure Canada, and FYI Medical Aesthetics, wanted to push for remote staff to work in the office. They told the worker that she was to transition to working from the office full-time within three months as part of the “return-to-the-office” initiative.

The worker countered that the requirement wasn’t a “return-to-office” for her, as she had always worked from home and that was part of her job description since she was hired. In addition, she said that it would be more difficult for her to work full-time in the office at the...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi9gFBVV95cUxNQ0RBS3RZejc3aUoyZGJlZ3Zv...