Employment Law Issues and Risk Reduction for Employers

This study material from Desklib covers employment law issues related to employee health, small businesses, and ways to reduce risks faced by employers. It also includes references for further reading.

Name of the Student:
Instructor’s Name:
MGMT1601 – Business Law
Assignment Name: Employment Assignment
Date of Submission:

Question-1
Provide details regarding issues relating to employment law which are given in the
employment scenario?
Answer-2
The issues related to employment law affect both employee and employer. Providing
information to the employee regarding his/her health problems is an important factor
whether the health issues are serious or not. Following are a number of employment law
issues which are involved in this scenario:
 Duty of accommodation
An employer is required to provide accommodations to disabled employees according to
human rights code. In the present scenario, Alice is struggling with a serious health
condition because she has cancer for which she got a surgery as well. As the manager of
Alice, it is my responsibility to ensure that appropriate accommodations are given to her
while she is performing her job. Alice is a nail technician in the spa, and she got allergies
from different nail products such as gel activator, raised and others. It is my duty as a
manager to provide her better accommodations.
 Undue hardship
Undue hardship provides that an employer must find new and effective factors for
improving the accommodation of employees. In the present scenario, after finding out that
Alice got cancer, I found out new and effective accommodations to support her in her
position.
 Responsibility of employer
It is a responsibility of the employer to ensure that appropriate care is given to a disabled
person in the office and avoiding discrimination against them. Furthermore, I will collect
medical information regarding Alice by consulting with her doctor to find new positions that
would make her position more comfortable in the office.

 Duty and responsibility of employees
An employee owes a duty towards his/her employer to provide complete information about
her medical condition to him so that he/she could take appropriate actions to make her
position better in the office. If an employee is refusing to work, then it is his/her duty to
provide a reasonable reason to the employer.
 Right to refuse work
As per the human right code, an employee has the right to refuse to do any work which is
harmful to a person. In the present scenario, Alice has cancer and smell of nail products
such as pedicure and manicure made her feel ill, thus, she has the right to refuse work.
 Termination of employment
If an employee is suffering from a serious medical condition, then the employee can leave
his/her job, or the employer can terminate him based on BFOR. In the present scenario,
Alice is a cancer patient, and the smell of nail products made her ill; however, she did not
want to leave her job.
Question-2
Identification and explanation of issues which are related to employment law from the
perspective of small businesses?
Answer-2
Small businesses face a number of issues while establishing their business in Canada or
other countries such as language, people, culture and most importantly employment law
issues. Following are different employment law issues related to small businesses:
 Providing accommodation
One of the key issues faced by small businesses is accommodation because when employees
face serious health problems, then the employer has to provide appropriate
accommodations for employees. However, an issue arises when the employee is operating

at a small position, or the employer did not have appropriate resources to provide
accommodations.
 Hiring perspective
Small businesses are always looking for finding employees who are qualified and suitable to
perform their jobs effectively.
 Raising capital
Small businesses face issues relating to the rise of capital because they have to raise funds
for running their operations and pay taxes as well.
 Managing tax liability
Proper handling of taxes is important for small businesses because they had to pay penalties
in case they failed to fulfil their taxable liabilities.
 Employee contract
Every small business is required to form an employment contract which includes details
regarding employees such as wage per hour, full-time, and part-time details. Furthermore,
rights of employees are also included in this contract.
Question-3
Identification and explanation of different ways to reduce risks face by the employer?
Answer-3
An employer should take appropriate measures to manage business risk whether it is a
small or large business. Following are different points based on which the employer can
reduce business risks:
1. Hiring right person: An employer can choose a right person for the right post in the
business, and the employer should check the background of the candidate in order
to evaluate whether he/she is right for the job or not.

2. Compliance with employment laws: All employers should comply with relevant
employment laws in order to avoid discrimination between employees based on
factors such as religion, age, disability and others.
3. Providing goals and objectives to employees: An employer must give appropriate
objectives and goals to the employee and information him regarding the expectation
of the employer.

References
Johansson, A. (2016, April 21). The 7 Biggest Challenges That Small Business Owners Face in
2016. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from https://www.inc.com/anna-johansson/the-7-
biggest-challenges-that-small-business-owners-face-in-2016.html
Key Legal Issues Facing Small Businesses. (2016, March 1). Retrieved October 15, 2017, from
http://linkilaw.com/key-legal-issues-facing-small-businesses/
Yates, R. A. (2016). Legal fundamentals for Canadian business. Toronto: Pearson.