The appellant employer challenged a labour arbitration and Divisional Court ruling concerning accommodation of an employee's religious holy days.
The court held that an employer may satisfy its duty to accommodate religious observance through appropriate scheduling changes without first proving that paid leave would cause undue hardship.
The court found the arbitration board patently unreasonable in characterizing compressed work week days as vacation benefits.
Although the policy had a discriminatory effect to the limited extent it failed to accommodate consecutive holy days, the employer fully met its duty by allowing the employee to bank compressed work week days for use as needed.
The appeal was allowed, the Divisional Court order was set aside, and judicial review was granted.
