General information regarding demotion

Demotion is considered as what the CNESST (the "Commission") calls a "transfer", which is a change in an employee working conditions, which change may take place in different forms. According to the Commission, a "transfer" may include the reassignment of an employee to another position or workstation, a significant reduction of the number of hours of work, a wage or salary reduction, a substantial change of duties, a decrease in the level of responsibilities, etc.

The demotion of an employee involves a change decided solely by the employer and may affect in particular the position held by the employee, the tasks performed by the latter, the level of responsibilities and salary of such employee. Since the Commission advocates progressive discipline which should be applied by an employer against an employee as a result of his or her bad behaviour or poor performance before dismissing the employee, demotion is considered as a corrective action used by an employer, but it can also be used as disciplinary action.