1. Fill out your application to the Labour Board

This kind of application is sometimes called a “Section 50 complaint” because the rule against unlawful reprisal is section 50 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).

Listed below are the forms you need to make an unlawful reprisal complaint to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB). All of these forms together are called your application.

• You need to fill out Form A-53: application Under Section 50 of the Act.
• You need to fill out Form C-26: Notice of the application or Referral.
• You need to include a blank copy of Form A-54: Response to application or Referral Under Section 50 of the Act.
• You need to include a blank copy of Information Bulletin No. 14: Unlawful Reprisal Actions and Referrals Under s. 50 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. It also tells you how to give your application to the OLRB. This is called “filing” your application.

Filling out Form A-53

This is the form where you describe in detail what happened and what you want the OLRB to do.

You have to include:

• your full name, address, phone number, and email address
• your employer’s full name, address, phone number, and email address
• a detailed description of what happened, including dates, locations, and the names of everyone involved
• what sections of the OHSA haven’t been followed
• a detailed description of what you want the OLRB to do

When you describe what happened, you should include:

• every event that you think is important
• when each event happened
• where each event happened
• who else was there
• any injuries, doctor’s visits, or other experts you talked to

You don’t have to use legal terms. And if you use them in the wrong way, it could cause problems later. Just explain what happened in your own words.

You have to tell the OLRB what you would like them to do. You could ask the OLRB to:

• change your employer’s health and safety policy
• make your employer fix a health and safety problem
• cancel your suspension or other discipline
• make your employer pay you notice, if you lost your job
• something else that will solve your problem

It’s important to put all of the details into the Form A-53. This is because you likely won’t be able to talk about anything in your hearing with the OLRB unless you put it in your application.

You can attach more pieces of paper if you run out of room on the form.