Supreme Court to Lower Courts: Don’t Overthink Labour Arbitration Review

Labour arbitrators don’t have to be right. When arbitration rulings get appealed, the appeals court will uphold the decision as long as it’s reasonable. In Dec., the Supreme Court of Canada clarified what “reasonableness” means in a case involving whether casual employment time counted toward vacation entitlement. The appeals court doesn’t have to go through an elaborate process of exploring the arbitrator’s reasons, the Court explained. It need only understand why the arbitrator ruled the way he did and confirm that the conclusion was “within the range of acceptable outcomes” [Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses’ Union v. Labrador (Treas. Bd.), [2011] S.C.J. No. 62].