16.Do you think Malik's response that Wee Widgets' would meet its ESA obligations is an appropriate answer? Please explain your reasoning. Your answer should also address the role of an HR manager in these types of situations. (2 marks)

SCENERIO:

Wee Widgets makes widgets. Their factory in Pickering is open 7 days a week 24 hours a day.Wee Widgets employs 1000 people including Judy, Malik, Andy, Nathan and Faria. Their roles and start dates are as follows:

• Judy - Chief Operating Officer - September 15, 2011
• Malik - VP Operations - January 15, 2010
• Andy - Floor Supervisor - April 15, 2018
• Nathan - Widget Builder - May 15, 2014
• Faria - Widget Builder - October 15, 2019

Andy, Nathan and Faria typically work Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm. Nathan and Faria earn minimum wage and Andy makes $22.00 per hour. They do not have a written employment contract. Judy and Malik are salaried employees earning $150,000.00 and $110,000.00 per year. Their employment contract is written and provides for reasonable notice upon termination.

Andy, Nathan and Faria were not provided any written documents before or upon starting work.

Nathan showed Faria around when she first started working. When he took her into the lunchroom, Nathan pointed out that on the employee bulletin board was a copy of a 10 year old - 3 version ago Ministry of Labour poster.Faria asked how come the poster was so old and was told that the HR manager left in January 2014 and no one has bothered to do any of the HR work since.

On Labour Day 2020, they both decided to work their regular hours since Wee Widgets said they would pay them extra for it.

In October 2020, Malik announced that Wee Widgets had landed a multi-million dollar contract. As a result, Malik was looking for volunteers to work extra hours until additional staff could be hired. From Monday, November 2 until Sunday, December 13, 2020 Faria worked 6 days a week 10 hours a day. During that same period, Nathan and Andy continued to work Monday through Friday but worked 10 hours a day.

In early January 2020, Nathan sent an email to Malik asking to take all of his vacation in one go as he was planning on going to Africa. Malik tells him that he would prefer that Nathan split his vacation into two blocks but if Nathan insisted than he could not go away in the months of April and May.

Andy and his spouse, Ahmed adopted twin boys.They brought the twins home from the hospital on January 10, 2020, having been born two days earlier. Ahmed also works at Wee Widgets but started in July 2009. As long-term employees, they both received extended health care benefits, including prescription and dental coverage.

Two months before bringing the twins home from the hospital, Andy and Ahmed advised Wee Widgets of the adoption and requested leave. They asked Malik the following:

• how long they were entitled to take off
• whether their vacation time continued to accrue during their leaves and if so when did they have to take their vacation
• whether their extended health care benefits continued while they were on leave

Ultimately, Malik advised Andy and Ahmed that the company would meet its obligations under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (hereinafter the "ESA"). Not a particularly helpful answer for Andy and Ahmed as they did not know what they were and were not entitled to under the ESA.

Judy is married to Richard. They have 5 minor children. When they got married, Richard already had 2 children from a previous relationship (Jonathan and Justin). After getting married they had 3 children (Joseph, Joy and Jack). Richard is the primary-caregiver.

In one calendar year Judy and Richard's family suffered through many tragedies and emotionally damaging experiences, including:

• In January, Richard was diagnosed with kidney cancer
• In March, Jonathan broke his leg skiing on a school trip and was in the hospital for one week and off school for a total of two weeks
• In May, Judy's aunt died following a multi-year battle with Alzheimer. Judy took two weeks off of work to provide support and care to her aunt before she died and after her aunt's doctors advised that her aunt would not live more than a month
• In August, Judy donated one of her kidneys to Richard
• In September, while on a school trip at Algonquin Park, Joy got lost in the woods. Joy was found safe two days later
• In October, Richard's father died suddenly from a heart attack