The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal will move forward with a hearing for a Greater Victoria Public Library staff member who was allegedly given an ultimatum to choose between her job or picking up her child from after-school care.
Tracy Obsniuk, a library assistant, worked a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift at an unspecified library branch in Greater Victoria, while being the sole legal guardian for her five-year-old child who attended after-school care.
In April 2019, the library implemented a standardized schedule where library staff would work 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., though Obsniuk's pick-up time for her child’s after-school care was between 5:30 and 6 p.m.
"Ms. Obsniuk discussed the issues that the change in her working hours would have on her childcare obligations with the Library." noted a decision from the tribunal. "She also described the availability of other family members who could help with childcare two out of her five working days each week. She requested that her schedule be modified to 9:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., which would allow her to pick up her child before the childcare centre closed. The Library denied this request."
She was first offered a three-month "interim plan" by the library where she could leave work early on days she had to pick up her child with the expectation that she would find alternative childcare arrangements following the three months.
In June and November 2019, she met again with her superiors where she explained twice that there were no childcare options that would be open past 6 p.m. The Library told her that she could continue to leave early without pay, or she could also use vacation time to pick up her child.
Obsniuk went on medical leave from Dec. 19, 2019, to Jan. 8, 2020. "She states this was in part due to the stress caused by the change in her work schedule and the impact it had on her childcare obligations," noted the decision.
In January 2020, she met with the library again. Her superiors presented her with three options moving forward: to stay in her position and work the standardized schedule; to resign from her current position and accept an on-call circulation assistant position; or take a two-month unpaid leave to make alternative childcare arrangements. She chose to stick with her current position.
After the library closed for almost three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she "continued to have occasional conflict between her work schedule and childcare obligations following the re-opening of the library in June 2020."
The library applied to the tribunal to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that it "has no reasonable prospect of success." Tribunal member Theressa Etmanski disagreed and denied the application, though she encouraged the parties to use the tribunal’s mediation services to try to resolve the complaint.
If the complaint is not resolved by the parties, it will move to a hearing at a future date.
