‘If the worker wasn’t in the probationary period, this conduct probably wouldn't amount to just cause’

A federal public sector worker’s firing while on probation was due to a lack of suitability for the position and not related to a disability revealed several months after she started work, according to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.

The worker was hired in December 2020 by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to the position of payment services officer. As she was appointed from outside the public service, the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) required that she be subject to a probationary period – which Probation Regulations stipulated as 12 months.

The worker’s job involved taking calls from people who were applying for or receiving employment insurance.

From March to May 2021, the worker’s team leader met with her to discuss her performance on phone calls, and the worker disclosed that she had medical conditions that negatively affected her performance. She provided a doctor’s note on May 21 explaining her conditions and requesting accommodation for workflow tasks, along with an ergonomic assessment.

On June 1, the worker’s manager sent her a letter saying that her probationary period for performance management was being interrupted while accommodation measures were assessed. The manager understood that the Probation Regulations state that “the probationary period for an employee who is disabled and requires job...

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