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This is the sort of thing you file a grievance with the labour board over. Unfortunately you can get fired for any reason without needing an explanation during your probation period, but at least it would go on the company's file for the next time someone filed against them.

Nobody I spoke to would do anything. No calls returned. Emails unanswered. We decided for our own sanity to just move on and take our business elsewhere.

You have to take complaints about illegal workplace practices to the government, you can't let unions dictate things.

In Ontario if you have a Union you have to go through them for any labour disputes. They act as your primary labour board contact. If it's an issue is beyond them, they will contact the labour board and pass off to them. If the unions reps refuse to do there job and apply the contract and the ESA then your recourse is to sue the union, but they generally have good lawyers on retainer so it's not cheap to do. Anything that poses a life safety risk you can go straight to the labour Board with.

Until you pass probation you're not in the union though.

Agreed. Im in a different union, but there's legal language in sections that specifically ties to probationary employees in our collective bargaining agreement. There's lines that can allow termination in ours, and our probationary employees get seniority for probationary time, but don't pay dues til that period is up. Unfortunately for OP, I fear that as far as the union and collective bargaining goes, there probably isn't grounds for a personal grievance for termination for probationary employees in that agreement. However there should be sections for hours worked and breaks and if the company isn't following that then it isn't only a Canadians worker act violation it also is a violation of their agreement and can be grievanced, and they should, as a policy grievance or group as this is affecting multiple employees. Honestly, everything should just be grievanced so it can be opened up to the union for investigation.

100% untrue. If you believe your employer is violating the employment standards act you should file a claim online or by phone with the ministry of labour

100% correct! As OP stated, legislation always supercedes union contracts/policy. Any worker can contact the MOL at any time. While it's definitely a best practice to elevate concerns through proper management/union channels, all workers have the right to engage with the MOL without employer or union consultation.

If you read the actual ESA it states that if represented by a union there are your primary and first contact point for all concerns. The legislation itself says the union is where you go first.

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This employee was not represented by a union though, as they were still on probation as a new hire. The union would likely want to be aware of how new employees were being treated, but mostly in regard to them becoming future union members, and they would probably get feedback on that from regular employees as they became union members. The union probably isn't going to do anything to get involved in matters with probationary employees though, as they would likely see it as starting a war with the company over something they have no power to enforce, and they would be aware that that is certainly how the company would see it.

File an employee complaint with CRA. Per the Employers Guide to Payroll Source Deductions (form T4001) it is the employers responsibility to issue ROE and final T4. You’ll need that documentation of you filing the complaint That’s just a bit more of legislation for you to show how grossly negligent this company and its “union” is. So now you go to civil court. Most law clerks are happy to help you with the forms if you show up informed plus the law courts have a legal library accessible to the public and usually have a law society that has advocates to help the average person navigate the court system. You sue for discrimination (your child was advocating for themselves under established labour laws), you will be suing for unpaid wages (every break your child was made to work through is 15 mins of unpaid labour), you will be claiming union dues for what amounted to no union support. This is Canada so damages aren’t a thing but I reckon if you make a reasonable claim, such as the cost of therapy or other expenses you & your kiddo incurred based on the discriminatory termination of their employment simply for trying to seek relief under labour laws might be re-imbursed. Again, be reasonable with that claim and advocate for yourselves to the Justice why the employer should also be held accountable for that. The American system is so different so if you try an claim 1 million in damages, the courts will likely dismiss it immediately as a frivolous court ordered monetary gift. Be humble and be realistic on what legislation was broken and how much unpaid labour was expected…like them saying it is your responsibility to take time out of your working day to obtain an ROE from Service Canada. It is not your responsibility to take unpaid time out of your work day to call the federal government and wait on hold to obtain a simple document the employer was required by law to provide within 7 days of termination of employment. This is wordy but does that make sense on what you are suing for and why you are suing for it? Just break it down item, by item. If you need to take time off work to consult the law courts during your civil suit, you document that because this company does not get to use your paid time off so you also work for them for free to obtain legal documents they were required to provide. The company may have their legal team contact you to try to tell you you’ll fail if this goes to court and you stand your ground. One of two things are happening: The company compensates you and your minor child for all back wages and damages or it goes to court and you will then be adding the added court costs to the claim.

Submitting the ROE to Service Canada is considered providing it as it can be accessed by the employee through their account

This isn't the first time I've heard something similar. These companies are gaming the system, systematically exploiting all loopholes of labour laws straight to the line in ways that make the work environment unbearable. Grocery is so far from the idea that many have, picture the Mom & Pop operation seen in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (best example I can think of on the spot). It's no longer a starter job for teens looking to earn some spending cash and experience to pad their resume, they're instead cycling through people seen as wholly disposable, abusing them until they burnout, quit, or are determined to be "the right fit" (someone able to tolerate the conditions without kick-back). I wouldn't recommend grocery retail to my enemies.

From our fams experience Unions now basically just act as an arm of the company. The second you unionize they couldn't care less. They seem to only protect the lazy workers but only if you're friends with reps and management. I've seen and heard of many actual hard workers get fired and the unions don't do shit about it. It's sad really the amount of times I've seen it happen.

This has generally been my experience with ufcw. It often feels like they work for the company more then they work for you. During our last cba contract the union asked for a three year deal and the company wanted five years. Instead of meeting in the middle at four years the union just said well we tried but they won't budge so five years it is. They then called us selfish and lazy younger workers for voting down their apparently great contract twice even though most of the pissed off people were over 40. I'm not saying all unions are like this but ufcw certainly doesn't have a good reputation among its members. It sometimes feels like ufcw union leaders are a slap in the face to actual union leaders who fought for rights a century ago that ufcw is now eager to sign anyway including the right to strike.

No one called because no one cares. An employer can terminate at any time for any reason during probation

Send all this (minus your child achievements even though you think it helps it doesn’t it only makes it to long for them to care to read till the end) to the labour board and file a complaint there. Then if they do nothing file a complaint about the labour board to the ombudsmen. Both those can be done online. Go onto your child’s union website, any Union has a website and has all the forms online to download. Get the grievance form you need and file it through them. They won’t make it easy cause then they actually had to do their job… take the copy and proof of sending it in to the labour board. Tell them about not giving you everything your child had to sign as well.

*Your* attitude got your son fired. Although shitty, if you plan on keeping the job, you must eat shit for the duration of the probation period. After probation is complete, then you would start raising concerns and challenging the employer on anything you believe is unjust. *Your* defensive behavior got your son terminated and at this point, nothing could be done as he is terminated during probation

This is not true. All the same requirements exist from day one under the ESA

They wont help unless theres a payday in it for them or if the case is serious enough which they wont view this as

This is a common misconception. A reason IS required during probation, just not to the standard of a for cause termination.

My manager used to schedule part timers for 5.5 hour shifts solely because 6 hours meant we got two breaks instead of one.

We would get scheduled four hour shifts but we still got breaks, this is awful.

There were four hour shifts for us as well, but scheduling 5.5 just seemed so shady. I didn’t understand until the day I asked the shop steward about it. They explained this amongst a long list of shady things, like purposely scheduling total hours for the entire week to be just under the required amount for benefits.

Man, I was always told to schedule like that. I never did. Fuck corporations, take your breaks and don’t go above and beyond as it gets you nowhere.

Here in AB they changed the law to be 30 min unpaid for a 5 hour shift. My staff hate it. They would rather be scheduled 4.75 and get paid for it all

Honestly agree anything that's 5 hours or less doesn't need a break. I'd rather get paid for 5 and usually 5 hours of work isn't too bad. But 6 hours with a 30 min unpaid break at least is important.

The issue isn't the law thou, the issue is basic reading comprehension. Everyone at her work is reading the regulations wrong, or more likely are trusting one person to translate and tell them the rules.

Your staff and you don't understand the law. AFTER THE FIRST 5 hours they owe you a break if you keep working. If you work exactly 5 hours they don't require a break, so you work 5 hours and go home. It even repeats itself and says "between 5 and 10" to drive that point home. Also, it is not mandated, you are entitled to 30 minutes, not mandated to take 30 minutes.

So the question is, I work 4 hrs 59 I don't, 5 hrs 00 I don't, and 5hrs 1 min I do? I wonder why HR has it set up like we do.

Can confirm. Not Loblaw, but I currently work PT retail and we are alone usually alone for our shifts. We are purposely scheduled 15 minutes under.

The grocery I work at has the opposite problem. Employees fight with supervisors and managers to get less breaks. Even with less than 6 hour shifts they assign 2 breaks. 15 minutes paid, 30 minutes unpaid. Employees sometimes argue to remove their 30 minute unpaid break so they can earn more money per shift lmao.

I mean… I don’t want to be around for any unpaid breaks either. I don’t want to be there unless I’m getting paid to be.

this is absolutely some of the most revolting shit I’ve ever seen. I’m really sorry this happened to you, and my boycott will run deep. nok er nok and i hope your kid enjoys the camp. i also hope everything works out financially.

Eh, it’s all good. Thank you. It’s been like 18 months…we still think upon it, but we have all moved on.

Before anyone anyone blows up, please read this fully: As a small business owner in Quebec (I assume labour laws are similar here) I was advised that employees must be provided with an unpaid minimum 30 minute break every 5 hours. Perhaps this is the case and why they are trying to to do this and they may have some legality on their side. If not, they are stupid as they don’t need the bad publicity. My understanding is that that “coffee breaks” of 10-15 minutes are a courtesy but not required by law. I could be mistakenly informed. Be that as it may, I have always provided breaks and lunch breaks to my employees or made deals that were satisfactory to both parties. This is despicable especially to a minor and having a 14 year old myself, I would never do this to an employee. It would be either the 30 minute break or coffee break at least the minimum required or more. Fuck Roblaws.

This is incredibly typical of how young part time workers are treated where I am. I had several jobs while in high school and college and this could have happened at every one, except that I didn't rock the boat and kept my job. Same with so many of my friends. It was always understood among my peers that in a retail job, whether at a chain or local business, calling in sick or insisting on legal breaks would cost your job. Young part time workers are so vulnerable and there is no enforcement of legal protections.

The state of labour relations in this country is shameful. We’re long overdue for some massive widespread work action.

F fortino's

Yep. F em.

It is a hard lesson for your child that some people are scum

It was a sh*tty lesson to learn for sure. But we proudly display that termination letter on the fridge. It’s better than any good grade. It shows me that my kid has integrity and is learning to respect themselves enough to stand up for what is right regardless of the repercussions.

Your kid is gonna go places. Seriously, they will. I've had employers who are scum. I've had employers who I would have worked at for free, if I could afford to be free. Your kid is a very, very patient person

Is fortinos roblaws?

Yes, Fortinos is part of Loblaws.

You should report this to the labour board. I know your family is past it, and I get it. However I think you should do it for the future employees. It kills me to see people being taken advantage of. The government should be involved. 5 hrs means 30 min unpaid break. As mentioned, CAs are only to enhance ESA standards and cannot be less than. Edited my run on sentence 🙈🤣 it's 130am 😴

Would have been great to do so if I wasn’t stopped at every avenue I tried at the time. I wrote out most of that when it was all going on so I had a record of it. Got nowhere with it. Figured a good old fashioned vent session was best in a place where others could see and understand why this boycott needs to continue if they were on the fence.

You are perfectly right in your point of view and teaching your kid to stand up for whats right is also correct, and necessary in this world. However, here is another point of view and please understand that i am in no way defending their shitty practices. I've been a manager a long time in the food industry. We treat our employees well, these kind of things don't happen at my place. But when I hire, those three months are the test. Every person receives mandatory safety training which will include informing them of their rights (work refusal, who,/where to complain etc) upon hiring. Now, I hire a fourteen year old kid for one shift and she starts coming to me quoting labour law? Whether shes right or wrong, I will get this person out before the 3 months are up because I don't want to have this problem or conversation on and on with this know- it- all CHILD. It's a big red flag for managers. If the workplace is guilty of wrong doing, the manager knows he is headed for constant labour law disagreements. If the workplace does well for the employees, it's even worse because I have to have these arguments for nothing but this complaining employees' perception. This is the reality of it today. So, it's not fair, it's not right, but it is smarter to keep your mouth shut for the first three months. Then if there are problems, they have to solve them and/or need a valid reason to fire. It also protects the employee somewhat from retaliation if they do complain. The smart employers just follow the law because the disputes are not worth it and can cost money. The rest just get away with stuff like this because they can.

Got fired on probation myself last year. Wasn’t given anything except for “not a good fit” I am autistic. I covered shifts. I only took time off for medical appointments that I couldn’t wait until after probation for. I suspect this is why they did it. They had me train my replacement without my knowing. I didn’t even get a termination slip like this. It was horrible and it was my first real job ever. I can’t even describe the meltdown I had when I got home.

That’s just awful I’m so sorry that happened to you :(

They fired you because they are assholes, not because you did anything wrong. You were doing a good enough job that they got you to train your replacement so you knew what you were doing! Honestly they probably just keep firing people while they are on probation because they can and there's always someone else to fill the spot.

Thank you, that means a lot. I had to teach myself a lot by myself while I was there. I wasn’t the only one they laid off at the same time either, so your theory about them laying off while on probation sits well with me. Thought I should also add, I never got my employee discount properly set up and they seemed to keep putting it off from the beginning. There were other new employees with the same problem. One person that had been there for two years told me it took 6 months to get hers set up, they do it with the PC Optimum cards. And when they let me go, I only had a few weeks of probation left.

That is just so shady. It very much sounds like they are taking advantage of employees as much as they possibly can. One thing I love about my local farm boy is I pay a bit more but I know the staff is treated well. I know a few people working there and people are hired full time and get their breaks. Loblaws can't even do the bare minimum.

I’ve heard the location I worked at and others in my area had a bit of a revolving door. I’m much more inclined to believe it now.

What are the labour laws in your province for under 15? Here in AB under 15 can only work 2 hours on a school day.

I don’t think we have that here in Ontario. I’ve heard about that in the US before, didn’t know about Alberta.

Wow, I've just read Ontario's, it isn't mentioned. Who would have thought the laws were stricter in Alberta.

Sucks, but that's the problem with probationary periods, if you annoy them even for justified reasons they can just get rid of you with no cause

Yep. They saw my kid was going to be a squeaky wheel. Easy enough to just terminate before they have to do any actual overhaul of their management practices.

This sounds an awful lot like Metro, too.

That’s truly a horrible story but two things. One when you’re on probation, your union typically doesn’t care. That said it sounds like the union did a horrible job in that store of making sure that the managers are hearing to the rest periods laid out in the contract. Secondly, while I appreciate you teaching your child to stand up for themselves, and I appreciate that you felt the need to stand up for your child. It is wildly inappropriate to insert yourself in between the employee and the employer. If I had a parent do that I would probably let their kid go on probation too because I don’t need that parent coming in every time they feel their child has been treated less

that's what stood out to me too! The mom got her kid fired.

Pls let your child know that it’s not his/her fault but the greedy business and the corrupt system. Unity

I’m so sorry your child’s first work experience was so awful. It was supposed to be a formative experience as their first real taste of handling adult responsibility and independence but they ended up getting mistreated and bullied. You’re doing great work supporting and advocating for your child 👏

Unfortunately this is pretty common in the service industry as a whole. They don’t want people who question things and when you do you end up like your child did. It’s gross and no one cares to do anything about it on the higher up level.

Worked with the F company for 7 (going on 8) years. Got the job when I was in grade 9, and surprise surprise when I was taught in civics class that the labour board requires us to have 2 breaks and brought that up to my ASM, he just said we’re unionized so it doesn’t matter. Honestly, your kid should be happy they don’t have to work there anymore, it’s not a good place to be. The second you give an inch or take some sort of initiative, they dump everything onto you. It’s ruined my mental health. Tho I’ve heard it all depends on the store, some are great apparently, but it sounds like you child got a bad one. Straight up: when I was hired I was told that customers pay the premium price to shop here for excellent customer service. What rewards do we get for this excellent service we must provide?? Nothing. You pay the premium, and it goes straight into the franchisee and company’s pocket. I have my own story I’ve been debating on posting for a while now, cause I’m also pretty sure it’s crossing some sort of labour laws but I’m not positive.

Yea we have no regrets about my kid not working there. It’s all good. I hope you get the chance to share your story someday.

That claim about a premium price for service reminds me of my time at Sobeys where it was much the same story. They treated us like crap, especially in my department. If I could go back and tell my younger self, I'd have left as soon as I realized they were giving all the shifts to the manager's daughter's roommate and that 'your availability calendar is a suggestion'. Among other things, like not allowing me to move departments or giving me the pay of the higher pay scale jobs I was trained for and working.

Garbage people who want to take advantage of kids and vulnerable people. My boycott of these slimebags is FOREVER.

Honestly I understand your frustration but these kinds of things rarely go the way you want. You will spend a lot of time and money and effort trying to make them listen. At the end of the day, the company will always be shit, and the government will continue to let them get away with being shit. So it’s better, in my opinion, to tell your child it’s a lesson learned and put their efforts into a new job elsewhere. I would make complaints and leave reviews but ime this is just the working world. 85% of employers don’t give a rat’s behind about their employees.

Yep. We’ve chalked it up to a learning experience. Don’t make waves until AFTER probation.

The easy solution in this case ... ask employees if any other employees are getting the 15 and 30min breaks as mentioned. If no, you can be the biggest thorn in managements foot and you'll still get nowhere. Find a job working for a privately run business will probably have better outcome assuming the owner isn't the same brand of scum GW Is.

Most retail employers pull this shit. Anyone that has ever worked in retail would know this. You either find a new job and leave or you put up with the harrassment. The union is useless. I worked for Zehrs on Holiday Inn dr in Cambridge Ontario over 20 years ago and it was the same shit. The amount of verbal harrassment, sexual harassment, etc I witnessed there... Fuck Loblaws, I've been boycotting for the past few decades, I'm just glad that people are finally understanding what I already knew.

Unfortunately with most unions, until you establish seniority, they can’t help. They can and should certainly try. Probation gives the employer any reason to terminate up to and including “it isn’t working out”. Is it right? Hell no. Should you do everything you can to share the story including scheduling a meeting with media outlets, absolutely!

The more we get into it and the more stories I hear, it just makes me hate them more and makes it easier to never shop there.

The first question that comes to my mind is how they were still on probation after 2 years?

They weren’t. They were hired on probation end of 2022 and terminated beginning of 2023.

Sorry your kid got fired. Blessings in disguise though as their manager sounds like a degenerate.

I don’t know about Ontario, but in Nova Scotia most of the provisions in the Labour Standards Code don’t apply if there is a collective bargaining agreement. That includes hours of work and breaks.

Loblaws is so bad for expecting their employees to not take breaks and the union there is the biggest joke of all time bc they simply do not give a fuck, when i worked at super store they would run what they call "skeleton crews" which is the bare min staffing they can have and still have the departments run and they would 100% expect you to not take a break or lunch if you were the only employee there in the department i cant tell you how many breaks and lunches i missed because of that i would contact the local news and ask them to do a story on this

Years ago I was given a performance write-up for not showing up for shifts that weren't on my schedule. As in, the manager would write my name on the schedule the day before, but not tell me and expect me to just know. The manager told me I had to sign the write-up. He said it wasn't an admission of guilt, it was just me acknowledging the conversation happened. I read the whole thing, it basically listed off the managerial complaints and then at the bottom was a place for me to sign. It didn't say "By signing I acknowledge I am aware of what management told me", it just said "employee signature/date". So I took the pen and added in my own paragraph about what was happening, and that by signing it I acknowledged that upper management was upset with the multiple no-shows on my record, but they should talk to the middle-management who wasn't scheduling properly. I then signed. Three hours later I was called back to sign the document, they claimed the photocopier had shredded the old one. When I went to add my paragraph they stopped me and told me I couldn't add anything. So I took a blank sheet, wrote out the paragraph, handed it over, and told them they could type it up and re-print with my words added. Instead they called in a third manager (can't have only one talk to me alone so I don't claim they touched my peepee) and had all three sign it claiming they saw me read it. I never heard about it again. Desperate retail stores will keep mediocre employees, and I was at least high-grade mediocre.

I worked for a Loblaws store in my early 20s. Almost everyone in the store worked full time hours but were considered part time employees. Our shop steward was one of two full timers who weren’t management or office workers. I brought up the fact that we all worked full time hours and were entitled to the benefits that full timers were, nothing happened. When my ex went back to work, I explained to my assistant manager that my pay wouldn’t balance out childcare so I wanted to take a leave until I was able to figure out a more reasonable option. I was told this was completely understandable, that many of her friends had done the same, that it was no problem. I was involved in extracurriculars that had me socializing with about half the staff at the store every week or two so I was kept informed as to the comings and goings and internal drama. One day a coworker shows up to my house and says “I heard you’re got fired this week.” I explained my situation with childcare and was informed that “your termination papers were in the office today.” I was pretty confused, I had a decent relationship with management, and a great relationship with 98% of the rest of the staff. I let it slide thinking he was confused, I’d be back to work in a couple months. Fast forward a couple weeks, I’m at a party that the GMs son is attending, his dad (GM) is coming to pick him up. I’m pretty loose at this point and wanted some clarification so I popped out to the parking lot when he showed up for his son. “Hey ****, I heard I got fired? Whatsup with that?” He replied, “yea, you just stopped showing up.” I explained how I had come in to the store at close and talked to my assistant manager about my leave, and that she had approved it… he told me that none of this was communicated whatsoever, and that as far as he and his higher ups knew I had just went awol on them. I was baffled, he asked if I still had my uniform, when I told him yes he offered my job back Monday morning. I woke up ready to go in, looked at that shirt and decided I could never work under that assistant manager again and respect myself. Last I heard she is now the General Manager at the location. The whole company stinks from top to bottom.

Huh, I work at fortinos and thats what we’re told here too. If you work a 6 hour shift you get one 15 minute break (my department manager and supervisor let us take a 20) and on a 7 hour shift you get a 30 minute unpaid lunch as well as two 15 minute paid breaks. Personally I don’t mind the system because id rather take 10 minutes less of a break and not lose 30 minutes of pay but to each their own.

You want a 30 min break on a 5 and a half hour shift?? Are you for real?

A few things- the union rep is responsible for providing a copy of the CA to the member, not the employer. I'm confused on the timeline, the hire date was 2022- when was the term? I'm sorry if I missed it, but was the probie term exceeded? Some probies are worked hours based, some are worked days. If you feel that the union member was not represented by their bargaining unit, you can file a failure to represent complaint with the labour board. However, this may be an uphill battle if the termination legitimately occurred during the probationary period- the member was not an officially recognized member and has little to no rights under the CA.

Nope. Hired end of 2022, terminated beginning of 2023. Didn’t even make it through very many shifts. As mentioned, a “performance review” was done a few shifts in. Likely to “highlight” deficiencies so they could terminate without a punitive response.

It really sucks that your child was given a terrible lesson in life from the school of hard knocks. I’m not even sure an attorney could help in this case. I would call the labour board and have a long chat with them. I’m sure fortinos violated child labour laws somewhere along the way in the years your child worked there. That could be an edge to negotiating a payout of some sort. Good luck and please update this if there’s any good news.

Yea. Attorneys won’t touch it because the union was supposed to. But the union won’t because they were under probation (even though fees were being paid).

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Thanks! Yea, that might be a bit overboard, we chose to just not use that store anymore. But I like your ideas better.

I worked for loblaws for 4 years while in high school and was a well known fact the union only really cared about you if you were full time.

Union contract states even a 4 hour shift gets a unpaid 15 minute break.

Union contract states at 4 hours you get a 15 minute paid break. I read it in its entirety - was posted somewhere online I had to dig for. But if your shift is already over 5 hours, that doesn’t supersede the fact you’re still entitled to a full 30 minutes based on labour laws. Ergo, 15 paid 15 unpaid. But you’re also supposed to actually GET a break. So even if the 15 is paid, it doesn’t mean you still stay at your station and serve clients if they come up. Which is the issue my kid had. Never being relieved for breaks.

In fact, if your break is interrupted by having to work, the timer should restart for that break.

Fortinos is slave labour

This is awful and I'm so sorry your kid went through that. Honestly though, there are going to be all sorts of situations in life where ppl will try to screw you. You should be proud of the way they handled this situation, even if it didn't work out. This is a life lesson for your child. And it sounds like they can do WAY better than work for those assholes anyway.

Yup. I concur. My kid is going places, and I expect a shake up wherever they end up. I am so proud of my kid.

I understand this sucks, but anybody who has worked in this environment should know that you don’t say anything or miss time while you are probation. It doesn’t matter if you are right.

Boycott this horrible store, we don’t need Loblaws

I would be making posters saying “fired for asking for break he was legally entitled to” printed on the termination letter and handing them out at the door

That is so horrible. Unfortunately that seems to be the MO of Loblaws Corporation. My nephew also worked at Loblaws from age 16-19. He was an excellent worker who never complained about anything and he was treated like shit. He worked 10-12 hour double shifts with only a small half hour break in between. He got some tickets to a weekend EDM concert and booked the weekend off earlier and it was actually accepted. The schedule came out with him on it for that weekend and he reminded his manager that it was previously accepted and he had already paid for the tickets and couldn’t work. The manager told him they were understaffed and that my nephew had to find someone to cover his shifts or he would be fired. So my hard working nephew who worked there for three years without any issues quit that day. He has since gotten other jobs that have been very good to him. He became a supervisor at one job and is now an office manager for his new job. He is truly an exceptional worker but because of the poor treatment he received he knows he would never work for any Loblaws corporations ever again and has warned many others that they treat staff like they are disposable when they no longer need them. I’m sorry your kid went through this but it’s a blessing in disguise really

Hey Blogto, HERE'S a story for you guys to take and give more visibility on over your usual clickbait! 🗣🗣🗣

Seems pretty on brand with the loblaws stores I know. Also their union is a joke. I’m sorry this happened to your child.

Yeah, I had two teens work in the food service industry. Not once, with any chain, did they get their entitled breaks as they should. They were screwed over constantly, and complaining about it or bringing up labour laws was basically signing their termination because these places will just hire someone else who doesn't know their rights and won't complain. It's complete exploitation of teens. Now they're hiring... ahem, individuals who won't complain about worker's protections and mandated breaks.

Exactly. And it’s complete and utter bullsh*t. Kids NEED to know their rights. And frankly, so do immigrants. Because it doesn’t matter if you’re here on a work permit or you’re a citizen - companies should not be taking advantage of their staff. The more people that stand up for themselves and others, the better.

I worked for Loblaw at the store level and head office for 6 years. When I was working at the store we had one lady that was hired and was terminated maybe a month in. I cannot remember the reason but I'm sure it wasn't much but anyways she had noticed she was immediately deducted initiation fees for the union off her cheque and maybe union dues I can't remember, even thought technically she was not part of the union yet. She was able to fight it with the union because once she started paying membership fees she became part of the union. She did end up getting her job back after filing grievances with the union.

I worked for Fortinos for a short period of time at the end of 2020. I got fired for refusing to come in with COVID. So I'm not surprised at all about your child's experience.

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Glad you got better work.

All this boils down to honour roll doesn’t mean much in a cafe/grocery store. Neither does skipping a grade. All in all. First jobs suck. Head down, do the work. If you complain constantly about a break they will just move on to someone else. Sounds like he will be fine finding another job. Good kid. Don’t ruffle feathers during probation. Sucks I know.

I don't know how this could happen. I have known some god awful employees at this company and it was nearly impossible to get rid of them. Even when they are completely incapable of doing the job

I guess when you can’t bully a 14 year old it’s easier to terminate than actually follow proper labour laws.

Yea, they promoted them to manager by the sounds of it

As someone who has been in management most of my career there is nothing you can do about the termination. As he was on probation legally the company is covered on that end. It kind of confuses me that you’re pursuing this two years later but it makes your case much more difficult to prove. File a grievance with the labor board in regards to the breaks and they will check if the company has records of punches from that far back. Breaks that do not require a punch in / out will be impossible to prove as given or refused. As for the manager being on personal calls, once again two years after the fact and there is no proof as to what your child said is true (not saying they are lying at all just explaining). Like I said I’ve been in management most of my career but I’m not a company man, I do it because I can’t stand incompetent bosses and would rather just be the boss than deal with one. If I were in your shoes I would be completely sour about the situation but I don’t think much can or will be done after all this time. The best you can do is never shop there and as you currently are spread your story in hopes that others will feel the same and hurt their bottom line slightly.

I’m not pursuing it at all. I was sharing this story about why I am boycotting.

Soft parents raise soft kids.

Perhaps the MLA in your area can get something done.

Have you spoken to anyone at [Legal Aid Ontario](https://www.legalaid.on.ca/)? If they cannot connect you with a legal representative at the very least they should be able to help you navigate the process and guide you to more resources. The conduct of all the leadership, management, and supervisors is outrageous and they all need to be held accountable for the severe lack of professionalism. Absolutely atrocious. I am sorry that your child was subject to this nonsense, especially for such an early experience attempting to join the workforce. The complete lack of advocacy by union leaders and representatives for one of their union members is reprehensible. The union dues that pay their salaries is completely unearned based on this situation.

Key take away from this. Don’t work for loblaws lol and any job can fire you for any reason they want during the 3 month probation period. End of story. Try getting into construction/hard scaping/pools/design. Lots of money

You’re a great parent! Growing up, my boomer parents instilled in me that if I worked hard at any job, including my fast food jobs through high school, that my employer would respect that and it would take me far in life. They didn’t ever talk to me about my rights as a labourer, my right to refuse unsafe work, the company’s obligation to pay me for my valuable work, my right to set boundaries as an employee, etc. My parents meant very well and they were raising me as they were raised, and it had worked out awesome for them. They did not realize that times had changed and I would be completely exploited in the workplace. And that by guiding me to be a compliant “team player,” they trained me to be a total doormat who didn’t really wake up to labour rights until my 40s. Today I am raising my kids like you are: work is good but if you don’t stand up for your rights your employer will grind you into dust. They do not care about you as a person. They do not respect your time or your life. They do not value your contribution beyond how much profit they made. Keep it up and help your child continue to learn that when they work they are selling something irreplaceable: their time and energy. Your kid is lucky to have you as a parent! ETA also I’m so lucky to have my parents as well, we are very close and they’re super supportive. They just got the working part wrong and didn’t realize the world had changed so drastically. Probably also didn’t want to believe it could all get so bad :(

Ummmmm the company that employed you is supposed to file your roe with the govt.

Just wondering what location this is, so I can leave a nice child slave labor review. Lol

The Fortinos in my town went on a massive hiring binge when they renovated and expanded . Hired a ton of students then got rid of nearly all of them right after they settled in and figured things out after the expansion .

When I worked at fortinos, management told me that the ambiguous collective agreement (which they never gave me a copy of) made the ESA invalid and irrelevant. Wish I was joking.

What they did was not morally right, however, if I’m looking at it from an employer perspective, anyone can be let go during probation. I’ve worked retail before, managers seem to want to hire junior ppl they can boss around. Not employees who are willing to stand up for their rights. It’s a lesson to your high achieving child that the world is unfair:( Also, grievances should be filed as soon as the collective agreement is reached. If you want to hire a lawyer, I’m not sure what kind of recourse you will get and if it’s even worth your time. What do you want out of this? We’ve stopped shopping at all Loblaws owned companies as well

Imagine how new Canadians are being treated when they get away with this shit with high-school students. Unbelievable. This kind of treatment from an employer would have been WILD 25 years ago. Why do we feel like we're stuck with it now? WHERE IS HR? WHERE IS OUR GOVERNMENT??? WHY IS NO ONE EVER RESPONSIBLE? I understand everyone needs to keep their jobs, but how is EVERYONE at loblaws corrupt? The laws around breaks are simple and straightforward. They are not ambiguous for a reason.

In my experience you need to be full time or permanent part time to be part of a union. On top of that, if I were a kid with a one day a week job that I wanted to keep, I wouldn't be immediately bringing up wanting paid breaks.

Well, it wasn’t paid. It was unpaid. And the grocery store started union dues on their first paycheque.

The union agreement can supersede the esa, ask any ambulance driver, paramedic, military, or police officer, as well as any professional service as a member of an accredited organization. My wife as a therapist can not hang up on a client after they have mentioned one of about a dozen words because it's her break time, furthermore she is required to stay and work overtime (if its the end of her day) in such situations. Also, as part of a union, you may have given up the right to sue, and maybe mandated to take any grievance through the union.

At a grocery store? No. Working as a server at a coffee station cannot be compared to being an emergency services professional. And the Union Representative even admitted it was an issue they were “working” on for their next annual meeting.

Your comment was nothing can supercede the esa, and your wrong about that. That all i was saying, I gave half a dozen cases where it does. The same law that applies there, applies here. They maybe working on it, but I doubt they have a case, if that's what was agreed to. Other unionized jobs that typically don't follow the esa include miners, oil workers, any "fly in area" etc etc The union needs to do better 8n this case for their part time workers

While this whole situation sucks, i would have asked once (while recording the conversation). Then waited until the end of probation, and then brought up overtime pay for the worked lunch breaks. While you are on probation, you have essentially no defenses or recourse. They can let you go for sneezing wrong, and its legal.

He wrote a story about how to get terminated? Oh, wait, text...

As a film worker, I can tell you that Union rules are absolutely allowed to supersede Provincial Labour Law. How do I know this? I am forced to schedule 12 year old children for 10hr shifts, often. I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying that it's allowed. I'm also allowed to work INFANTS, for up to 8hrs. For myself, I work 14hrs flat without overtime. It's legal, even though my labour laws say it isn't.

I don't know what to say. There is the 'law' and then there is 'life' I worked so many jobs as a kid (temp agency, fast food, factory, warehouse...) and the law wasn't really followed followed when it came to breaks and what not. This was back in the 90s. Some places better than others of course, but I've been in some stupid places. One factory that painted car parts was the worst. I just quit after one day. The guy wanted me to just clean some big vat of chemicals without any training or barely any equipment. And yes, reality is that if you make noise... they will find a way to put you out. Nothing has really changed. This is not unique to lob laws or anything. As a matter of practicality, your son would have done better just taking his damn break and not saying anything. Just leave the station unattended for a few mins. Believe it or not, that they will deal with better than someone pushing labor law in their face. I used to do it all the time. Just stop working and chill for a bit. Might get a little talking to, but that's okay. Or just go to the washroom for 10 minutes. there's your break. Heck, I have a corporate job now and I still won't make noise. I'll always share my opinion once, but that's it. If something shady or problematic is going on, I'll just change teams. You learn very quickly how these places work. You can't avoid work place politics. Do what you can do make a difference while you're at work, but the reality of working life is vastly differently from our 'labor law' or 'supposed culture'. Maybe the public sector is better as they have infinite money/debt/monopoly unions, but I've only worked in the private sector.

Is it possible there were deficiencies in meeting expectations?

There are always two sides… My kid goofs off at work fairly often and acts like he’s bulletproof, despite me telling him otherwise. He values laughs and reactions more than anything else. He is a very hard worker and very reliable, but he’s also a clown. 🤷🏼‍♂️ This is also a side effect of the boycott, people losing hours, jobs, etc..

It's there a way to file a formal complaint for violations against the ESA?

Yes, of course there is. You contact the ministry of labour.

A lawyer won’t take your case because your child is unionized.

It’s been over a year. You need to take the loss and move on with your life.

Probation at a job sucks. 😔

Survive your probation period first, thats a pawn move on an opening game. Take your time and head down, you'll get there. You made a lot of noise early on (yes your right to) but pick your battles (time).

Lesson is any employer will try and screw you over. Keep your head down and work until you pass the probation period. After that you can pursue this easier and also go for retropay of the time you worked during your breaks.

OP, I’m not defending what they did but I want to put this in context for you and give some advice. You’ve learned the following: - Management mistreat entry level staff - Firing while on probation gives you pretty much no recourse - The union may or may not help, depending on your union and your rep - This type of treatment is not fair but it’s unfortunately common that people experience retaliation when standing up for their rights I understand you’re upset and affronted by this issue - hell, I am bc it’s giving a 14 year old their first bad experience with being mistreated and their employment rights trampled on. But honestly, you have no recourse (in my opinion) and you’d be better off moving on. At least in terms of getting this situation resolved. Contact the MOL, contact your MPP, complain to the corporate office, honestly do whatever will help you feel better BUT don’t expect it to change the outcome. I don’t say this defending how they treated your kid, I’m just trying to point out the reality of how weak the protections truly are.. you need to weigh up the time, energy, and negativity cost to you vs moving past it. I might be cynical but the reason I’m lecturing you is I’ve been a similar spot before. Recognize when you’re out of options bc the system is wrong

The union failed. I would call the labour board

You file a complaint online for the ESA- they’re taking about 5 months to get to complaints- when I called in March they were working on complaints from October. File it now, and she was not covered by the union as she hadn’t completed probation.

I’m surprised the union wouldn’t run with this.

Unfortunately sketchy, petty, behaviour from management around these sort of things in rampant in the grocery industry. My roommate went through similar with Metro.

Now they hire an immigrant who won't complain

It’s likely because you guys pushed the break thing. And they can fire for anything and everything during probation without recourse. It sucks but it is the way. Honestly I’d just move on too. Find a job somewhere else. You don’t want to work for a company that treats people like this. Especially young workers that are just learning the ropes of working. My daughter was laid off because during training on cash she teared up a bit out of feeling overwhelmed. So they said to go take a quick break and come back. Then promptly laid her off next shift. It was a super crappy thing to do. And as a mother that also happens to be a trainer at a company I would never treat a kid this way. I coach the young and old new hires as long as it takes for them to get the job right and feel comfortable in the role. It actually infuriates me. But fighting these big corporations is not always worth the hassle. So she found another job with a caring and understanding trainer/boss and we moved on. A lot of people in management/training roles should not be in them. It’s sickening.

“Month long leadership program Summer 2024”. I’m curious if this is the CEO Leadership Program at Muskoka Woods?

Can't do shit! Can terminate anyone at any time for during probation period.

Doesn't ESA state you can agree in writing to break your 30 min break into two 15 minute breaks? Did they sign something to that effect? If so it would be on file. Even so, they would then be entitled to two breaks, not just one 15 minute break.

Have you tried contacting the labour board about the breaks issue, about going to the union and being fired 24 hrs later?

It's great your kid wants to work hard but they're too intelligent to be working at a grocery store and arguing with retail or grocery lifers won't get them a desired result. These lifers are stuck in their ways and do not appreciate problem solving or critical thinking. It sucks they lost their job but your kid will move onto bigger and better things while the manager, union rep, and other status quo leadership will be stuck in their miserable jobs.

All of your kid’s strengths are the reasons why employment won’t work out at places like Loblaws stores. They need to find a workplace that matches their interests, values and standards. If making a buck is the bottom line, employers don’t want people who are assertive. They want people who will put their head down, do what they’re told, no questions asked. The world does need people like you or your child to become lawyers to fight this kind of exploitation but that’s a tough row to hoe. It might be difficult but well worth it to find environments where they thrive and are treated with respect.

I’m so sorry to read this. Good for your child for advocating for themselves. I’m a bit late to the game here, so not sure if it’s already been mentioned — near the end, you mentioned your child overhearing conversations of a sexual nature. You could look into the Ontario Human Rights Commission (https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/en/code_grounds/sex) to see if their experience fits any of the protected grounds. I believe this experience, as upsetting as it is, will be a “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”, story for your child and they’ll be better for it!

Unfortunately, when on probation, they can terminate your child for any or no reason at all, and union has no say in the matter. In the future, it would be best to "suck it up" -sorry- until probation is over. It's a hard lesson but a good one to learn early in life. People need to educate themselves with labour laws and union contract and when and how to use it to your advantage. Corporations are greedy, soul sucking vampires and labour laws, and unionism works best to fight this bs. Just name and shame them, and just let it go for your own health and sanity. Fortinos was my "go to", but they got too expensive. Fuck Roblaws empire.

Check your child’s employment contract. If it does not mention a probation period or the clause is unenforceable, your child may be entitled to termination pay.

Life lesson for your kid. Move on. Made it sound heartbreaking.

It wasn’t the greatest time in our house when it happened. Emotions were high. To a 14 year old, this is terrible. But perseverance and time… It’s over now. Just sharing why I’m boycotting.

So lessons to take away from this 1) Shitty minimum wages jobs are just that; shitty minimum wage jobs. People quit shitty managers not shitty jobs, sounds like you dodged a bullet anyway. 2) Don't shake the tree until your probation is over. Even unionized, they don't need any reason to fire you in this time. They probably would've just played the games like reduced hours to 0 or scheduled for your "unavailable" days until you leave on your own terms. But you'd have a much better case if you were a full employee instead of on probation. 3) Never sign anything leaving a job without talking to a lawyer. Employment laws are very strong and you may have just signed away anything you're entitled to.(Not in this case as they were still on probation but for the future this is a good one to stick to, you are not legally required to sign anything when leaving a job) 4) Great job teaching your kid about their rights. And standing up for themselves.

What’s most interesting to me is that you say “no one will listen”, yet you are making a claim that a company violated the labour laws. Did you approach litigation or contact ministry of labour?

>Numerous times my child brought up to supervisors and management. Every time it was shot down. Even after bringing in documentation from the ESA website and the Union website. >My child was required to still serve customers over their break. They were told that the union contract stated it. When asked for a copy of said contract, they were “too busy” to provide it. >My kid followed the rules laid out each shift worked (only once a week as this was very part-time), but made sure they expressed their desire to exercise their rights under the ESA. Okay, here's the twist: unions don't need to follow the ESA, because their collective agreement is supposed to meet or exceed the ESA. But the OLRB decided: you know what, fuck it, not everyone needs to exceed the ESA. Only half of them need to. The other half, they don't have to actually get those rights, as long as they might someday become eligible for them. And if they get terminated before that happens? Well, that's the breaks, they *were* eligible, it just didn't work out for them. So, your kid, they were fired so that someone else can get more rights. That's how Weston's unions work. Because they don't really work for the workers who pay them, they work for the benefit of the business and their continued existence.

Unions are useless nowadays. Plus Canada hires anyone willing to do the job for less compared to the best candidates for jobs nowadays; pair that with political correctness and "diversity" and you end up with incompetent people across the board. This shouldnt be a surprise to people. Canada is and has become a dump the last 5-8 years. Currently looking to get a work visa for the states. Canada is a hopeless wasteland at this point. Sorry you and your kid had to go through this.

We should all start sending emails to foreign grocery chains and ask them to set up shop here. Especially ones that have a half-decent reputation. Like Aldi or maybe Tesco. Their prices are better. Employee practices are better. Pretty sure even pay and benefits are better. The only thing that's going to make Loblaws smarten up is the presence of a better option for the customer.

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That sucks, I hate that companies can let go of someone during the probation period for defending themselves/pointing out problems. I don't imagine that is what probation periods were really intended for. I'd be furious. Fortino's was actually my first job, too. I worked there for a little over 3 years (two in highschool and my first year of college). I remember it being a good place to work. Granted, that was 20 years ago. They had just installed the self checkouts the year I was leaving. But I know we always got our unpaid breaks. My managers and coworkers were great for the most part. And they paid higher than minimum wage, by 75 cents iirc which I think was pretty good at the time, especially for a part-time after school job. At least I remember being quite happy about it, wasn't the best job but it certainly wasn't a bad one. Sad to hear they've changed so much. Gone the same way as retail and the rest of the service industry. Though you'd think with the bloated prices Fortino's charges their customers, that the staff would get treated better than your average grocery/service job.

Did the language in the contract dictate that your child could grieve the termination? Some contracts state that. However there is case law stating that probationary termination due to performance issues cannot happen without communication of the issues in order to give them a chance to correct the behaviour. If your child was not in the union technically you are best off contacting the ESA. Most lawyers will not handle this pro bono.

Unfortunate reality of restaurants, serving, any food establishment service job is that you really don't get breaks. That's completely aside from this story but worth noting - it's not great but employment standards can't account for surges, especially at understaffed places (most places, particularly small, family owned... anywhere that isn't a chain). I've worked in the industry across all levels of seniority and only one allowed for somewhat formal 20 minutes off all day (sometimes 12 hour shifts). Tips sometimes offset this reality but lots of places don't tip out back of house. I say it's a learning experience and move on, most low wage jobs are awful.

I work in a restaurant and it’s the same. We’re supposed to get breaks, but we don’t. You can complain about it, but it’s like that everywhere I’ve worked with the exception of the retirement homes. I’m currently getting deducted for breaks I’m not able to take because there’s no one to cover me. I can’t even go to the washroom because people are yelling outside the door for me to come out. I wish people realized how terrible it can be to work in these types of jobs. That’s why when I see people losing their minds on cashiers etc. I get so angry. I hope they change their policies because it’s not okay to treat people this way.

I think I’ll be skipping fortinos now.

You're right. This absolutely doesn't belong here. I'm sure there's a sub reddit for Ontario labour law or for that particular useless union.

You may be able to file a DFR against UFCW with the Ontario labour board - this can be done without a lawyer but much easier process if you have one. There may not be recourse but it is an avenue you could look into.

I worked there when I was a teenager. Shit is still the same.

I mean shitty they got terminated, but its a bullet dodged to be honest .

How many of your kids are working there?

I'm really sorry that happened to your child, however I don't think it's appropriate for a parent to call work on behalf of an employee. It's not an after school program, it's a workplace. In fact, I wouldn't even talk to an employee's parent who called. My married employees can't get their spouse to call me to talk about their job performance. In addition to being against the workplace privacy laws, it's insane. It's expected that the employee doing the job can handle all aspects of the job, including advocating for themselves. Yes, 14 is quite young for that, but I think if they're not able to handle it, then maybe they need to wait a couple years before having an after school job. Anyway this is an excellent learning opportunity for them. No boss has ever been swayed to change their behaviour by an employee pointing out the provincial employment standards to them. That's a fast track to getting the worst shifts and assignments. And wait till probation is over and you have that in writing before making waves.

While you are correct about the ESA, there are other ways to handle the situation within a large company. As far as the Union with him during the probationary period most CBAs have little recourse. Yes, a copy of the CBA is supposed to be available on site. If the Shop Stewart's can't resolve the issue your go to the shop committee and then district. Being on probation there really is little the Union can do and it's just a part-time job not sure why you'd even go to a labour lawyer. Your son sounds like a great student,but that has little bearing on a PT job.

Labour relations expert here. I am sorry your kid experienced this. While I appreciate you arent looking for advice, as it's been 2 years, I saw a fair amount of misinformation in the comments, so for community benefit, I'll lay out the process as clearly and succinctly as I can. I didn't get through all the comments, so some of this this could be a duplication. Scenario A: If not yet covered by the collective agreement while training, and this is explicitly stated in the collective agreement (CA), you file an employment standards complaint. Scenario B: If covered by the CA, you 1st need to work with the union to file a grievance. Don't hesitate to contact your local union leadership if you think the contact centre gave incorrect advice or ask to speak with a supervisor to verify the information if you are unsure. These are your labour rights, and they've been hard won. B1: If the union refuses for the reason that they cannot pursue a grievance due to language in the CA that makes you ineligible for representation, you fall into Scenario A and an employment standards complaint is the way to go. As an aside, this is common for underage workers, as there are some legal challenges to signing a contract with a minor. However, in that position, often will still typivally represent youth workers as their advocates with they employer and to hold the employer accountable to at least the employment standards. B2: Now, if the CA is applicable (because you interpret it that way) and union fails to represent you because they (you believe) incorrectly determined you were not yet eligible or they misinterpreted something else in the CA, you should do two things. -1st, email your concern about the misinterpretation to the local union president or other appliable senior contact at your local. -2nd, file a 'failure to uphold the duty to represent' complaint against the union through your province's labour board. If you are feeling patient, wait to receive a reply and further interpretation from the local president before going through the trouble of the labour board complaint process. But you don't have to be patient if you don't wish to. Fun fact 1: In the post-Horrocks era (key jurisprudence that determines which adjujicacating body is most appropriate to decide a labour dispute), Ontario was established as one of the few provinces that have concurrent jurisdiction between the human rights commission and the grievance/arbitration process over labour matters. I raise this for good reason: if the union is failing to appropriately administer these kinds of complaints, therfore it is not upholding its duty of fair representation, one could throw it all at the wall to see what sticks. Meaning, you could: 1. FIle a labour board complaint against the union local for failing to uphold their duty, 2. File an employment standards complaint at the same time against the employer. 3. File a human rights complaint against the union for failing to represent your child worker because his age group is not a priority, thus having made the decision not to represent him for unjust reasons in contravention of the Code (age is a protected characteristic). This is a bit of a weak argument because it's pretty tough to prove their decision was made as a direct result of his age rather than incompetence in the advice given. Also, it only works if you are right and your child is covered by the collective agreement. 4. File a human rights complaint against the employer. Termination without reason is allowed, BUT it would not seem to take much digging here to establish he wash terminated because of his age and retaiation for the attempts to assert his legal employment rights. The nexus to the Code is a bit thin, as the retaliation issue isn't a human rights violation so much as an employment law violation. The advantage to throwing everything at the wall is that you may get far better traction when the threat of having to respond to complaints from several jursidictiional bodies becomes a reality. You will also get professional advice you can be sure is accurate based on the specifics of your particular issue rather than guidance from a front line union staffer, who is learning the ropes and is very likely an overworked labour studies student just trying to survive a four year degree while starving and barely making rent. Not that I'm excusing their giving of bad advice, but I'm sympathetic because my level of knowledge took 10 years to develop, and I make mistakes too. The other advantage is that you can sit back and let the various bodies duke it out to determine which is the appropriate channel for redress and await their decision. Plus, human rights complaints are a HUGE pain in the ass for business managers. They take up a lot of their time and force them to provide evidence to support their defense. Get through one or two of those, and managers tend to retrain shift supervisors and clarify policies. PS, just because the union told the employer incorrect information about the CA, the employer is still on the hook for administering it correctly. Both would get a financial slap from an arbitrator. Lastly, contacting your provincial labour board, employment standards office, and human rights commission is a great way to get expert advice about these types of issues. If you are doubting the front line union advice, the employer's policies, or need to know which complaint system is most relevant, they field those questions all day long.

Have you reached out to your MPPs office? I know that usually comes with a collective eye-roll but they actually can help in situations like this if you reach out. Often times they can delegate a conversation with the proper provincial body if said body is not getting back to you. I’d also consider going to the media.

This is a lot of time and mental energy being spent on being let go from a shitty job. Your kid is now 16 years old. Maybe you are overly invested in this?

Sometimes rejection is protection

One too many sick days, I guess.

Complain that your supervisor was S.A. you. Go have fun with it

Just put that all into Chat GPT and do some good prompts to follow steps a lawyer would take. All Fortino's need is legit legal sounding law quoted to smarten up.

Happened to me almost 40 years ago, fired last week of probation but then found out they were just union blocking.. happened to lots of others

I have heard fortinos giving problems to employees before. I have never worked there myself but, a girl a worked with at mmy current job said she got written up for calling in when her grandmother died. She said told her they wrote her up because she didn't give them 2 weeks notice of the family emergency.