Work Refusal and Work Stoppage Support
Three quite different mechanisms are routinely described as a work stoppage. They carry different procedures, different participants and different consequences, and employers who confuse them tend to mishandle the first one they encounter.
PHASCORP supports Ontario employers through all three, and can attend site where the circumstances require it.
If a stoppage is in progress, telephone (647) 564-6824 rather than sending an email.
A worker’s refusal to work
Under section 43 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, a worker may refuse to work where they have reason to believe that equipment, a physical condition of the workplace, or a contravention of the Act or regulations is likely to endanger them or another worker.
The procedure is prescribed and sequential. The worker reports the refusal to the employer or supervisor. The circumstances are investigated in the presence of the worker and a worker representative. If the worker continues to refuse and has reasonable grounds, a Ministry inspector is called, investigates, and provides a decision in writing.
Certain workers, including those in specified emergency, policing, correctional and healthcare roles, have limited rights of refusal where the danger is inherent in the work or where a refusal would directly endanger another person.
The most common employer errors are procedural rather than substantive: failing to conduct the first-stage investigation in the worker’s presence, assigning the work to another worker without informing them of the refusal, or treating the refusal as a disciplinary matter, which engages the reprisal provisions in section 50.
An order from a Ministry inspector
An inspector may issue orders requiring compliance within a stated period, and may issue a stop work order where the inspector believes circumstances present an immediate danger. This is not a stoppage initiated within the workplace, and the route back to production runs through compliance and the inspector rather than through internal agreement.
How we support employers
During the event. Guidance on the correct procedure for the mechanism actually in play, attendance on site where warranted, technical assessment of the condition or equipment in question, and support during an inspector’s attendance and investigation.
Immediately afterwards. Documentation of the investigation and its outcome, corrective action where a genuine hazard was identified, and a written record capable of withstanding later scrutiny.
Preventively. Most repeated refusals arise from an unresolved underlying condition or from a committee process that is not functioning. We assess both, and where the joint health and safety committee is the weak point, we address that directly.
What we advise employers first
A work refusal is a statutory right, not an act of insubordination, and the reprisal provisions of the Act are engaged the moment it is treated as one. Section 50 prohibits dismissing, disciplining, penalising or intimidating a worker for exercising rights under the Act.
The correct response to a refusal is procedural: follow the sequence, document it, and address the condition where one exists. Employers who do this consistently tend to see fewer refusals rather than more, because the mechanism is being
used for its intended purpose rather than as the only route available to a worker who is not otherwise being heard.
Section 43 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act allows a worker to refuse to work where they have reason to believe that equipment, a physical condition of the workplace, or a contravention of the Act is likely to endanger them or another worker. The Act sets out a prescribed procedure for investigating the refusal.
The worker reports the refusal to the employer or supervisor. The circumstances are investigated in the worker’s presence, together with a worker representative. If the worker has reasonable grounds to continue the refusal, a Ministry inspector is called, investigates and provides a decision in writing.
Only where that worker has been advised of the refusal and the reasons for it, in the presence of a worker representative. Assigning the work without doing so is a common and serious procedural error.
No. Section 50 of the Act prohibits dismissing, disciplining, penalising, coercing, or intimidating a worker for exercising rights under the Act. Treating a refusal as a disciplinary matter engages the reprisal provisions.
Most do. Certain workers, including those in specified emergency, policing, correctional and healthcare roles, have limited rights where the danger is inherent in the work or where a refusal would directly endanger another person.
A work refusal under section 43 is exercised by an individual worker. A work stoppage under section 45 arises where certified members of the joint health and safety committee believe dangerous circumstances exist and requires agreement between certified members representing both workers and management.
An order issued by a Ministry inspector requiring that work cease, generally where the inspector believes circumstances present an immediate danger. It is issued by the inspector rather than initiated within the workplace, and compliance is verified by the inspector.
Yes, where circumstances warrant it. If a stoppage is in progress, telephone rather than emailing.
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