Innocent absenteeism is one of the thorniest issues for management to deal with.
Beyond the difficulties entailed in crafting a reasonable and remedial approach that will pass muster at arbitration, employers must also have regard to the impact of human rights law when devising programs for controlling innocent absenteeism. In this article, we look at some developments in the law of innocent absenteeism that have emerged in recent years. It is clear that an employer's efforts to manage innocent absenteeism must comply with human rights legislation. This requirement is particularly acute when a decision has been taken to terminate an employee for innocent absenteeism. If the condition is a handicap, the employer must be careful to ensure that its response does not run afoul of human rights law.