Employer Reprisals in Quebec: Prohibited-Practice Complaint
Recognize discipline tied to exercising a right, preserve the timeline and act before the usual 45-day deadline.
What is a prohibited practice?
It can involve dismissal, suspension, transfer, reprisals, discriminatory measures or another sanction imposed because a worker exercised a protected right. The exact reason matters: a workplace conflict or unfair dismissal is not automatically a prohibited practice.
Build the timeline
Record when the right was exercised, who was notified, the employer's response and every schedule, duty or treatment change. Keep the dismissal letter, discipline, schedules, pay records, email, messages, policies and witness names.
File before every document is collected
Check eligibility with the CNESST and file within the applicable deadline. Identify the protected right and the sanction clearly. Keep the filing confirmation and provide requested documents afterward. A union grievance or another complaint has separate rules; notify the union promptly.
Distinguish the recourses
Unpaid wages, harassment, dismissal without good and sufficient cause and occupational injury each follow different tests and deadlines. Ask the CNESST which route matches the facts instead of selecting a single form at random.
Prohibited-practice complaint — CNESST (French)