Bill 96 requires an employer take all reasonable steps before requiring knowledge of a language other than French to hold a job in their company.
A man who asserted his right to work in French has won a case before Quebec’s labour tribunal, invoking provisions added to the law with Bill 96.
The complainant did not obtain a position he had applied for in a company’s procurement and logistics department. The advertisement for the position had only appeared in Korean.
The man filed a complaint with the Administrative Labour Tribunal, contesting the employer’s request to submit his résumé in English and to conduct the job interview in Korean.
He had first submitted his résumé in French, then the employer asked him to send a version in English — which he did.
Under the new law, an employer has an obligation to take all reasonable steps before requiring knowledge of a language other than French to hold a job in their company.
“An employer is prohibited from requiring a person, in order to remain in or access a position, including through recruitment, hiring, transfer or promotion, to have knowledge or a specific level of knowledge of a language other than the official language, unless the performance of the task requires such knowledge; even then, it must first have taken all reasonable steps to avoid imposing such a requirement,” the decision states.
Before the tribunal, the employer’s representative argued the man had not obtained the position because he did not have the required skills. He also argued the requirement for knowledge of English and Korean was necessary to perform the tasks of acquiring equipment internationally and communicating with the employer and employees of the company who speak Korean.
The employer’s representative also justified his request to obtain the English version of the complainant’s résumé and to hold the interview in a language other than French by the fact he did not understand French.
Administrative judge Jessica Laforest instead ruled in favour of the complainant. “The tribunal concludes that the defendant did not respect the criteria set out in the (Charter of the French Language) to justify the requirement of knowledge of English or Korean in the hiring process in which the complainant participated.
“Even assuming that the necessity criterion is proven, which the tribunal does not decide in this case, it concludes that the defendant does not prove that it ensured before posting the position that the knowledge of English and Korean already required of other staff members was insufficient. Furthermore, it has not demonstrated that it restricted as much as possible the number of positions to which tasks are attached whose accomplishment requires knowledge of one or the other of these languages.”
The company “fails to demonstrate that it has fulfilled all the conditions allowing it to conclude that it has taken reasonable steps to avoid imposing the requirement of knowledge of English and Korean before posting the position,” the ruling continues.
The complaint was, therefore, upheld by the tribunal. It reserved its powers to determine possible remedial measures.