'When you have an employee who wants to do an outside activity... the question is always: can they still do their job?’ says lawyer offering tips for HR
With voters in in Ottawa and Toronto heading to the polls in October , some employers may soon find themselves managing a situation they never planned for — a staff member who wins a seat.
Elected officials across Canada are permitted to hold outside employment or manage a business, according to the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. The only obligation is that elected officials must make sure their private affairs don’t create a "conflict of interest" — defined by the Commissioner as any competing interest that could interfere with a public officer’s ability to act objectively.
While there is no research specifically tracking how many elected officials hold outside employment, a 2018 Toronto Star investigation found 152 Members of Parliament (MPs) out of 300 across Canada had income from another source, and for dozens of them it was secondary employment.
It raises a practical question: how should employers handle staff who win a seat?
Kate Allen, an employment lawyer at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt in Vancouver, says it starts with one question.
“For any employer, when you have an employee who wants to do an outside activity — whether it’s a second job, a gig on the side, or in this case, someone who’s been elected to office — the question is always: can they still do their job?” she says.
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