The Case of the Strip Search

Imagine your boss asks you to drop your pants.

No, not for any funny business. Instead, you are being asked to prove you have not stolen anything. So you have to take off your pants or they’ll presume you’re guilty. 

I remember hearing about just such a case in Toronto where an employer was investigating a potential theft in a long term care home. The employer required a number of suspected staff members to strip down to their undergarments to prove they did not have the stolen goods on their person. And those staff members complied!

You may have heard the phrase “work now and grieve later,” either from your union steward or representative. The concept is one of the most basic and long-standing rules in unionized workplaces. If an employee personally disagrees with a direct order from their employer, the principle requires the employee to comply with the order—and only later, through the grievance procedure, challenge the validity of the directive. If an employee chooses not to comply with a direct and clear order from a supervisor, they risk discipline for insubordination, which is typically treated as a very serious misconduct. 

Realistically, following a direct order that you know is wrong is not easy. But when you work in a unionized environment, disputes are meant to be dealt with through the grievance procedure. It is not practical to have staff deciding individually when to follow an order and when to disobey. It’s a recipe for chaos. 

However, “work now and grieve later” does not always work. Consider again the case of the strip search. Sure, the employees could grieve the fact that the employer forced them to strip. But the damage is done. It would have been much better for them to disobey.

Employees may legitimately refuse a request that intrudes on their personal lives (like a strip search). Also, an order which could be criminal or unlawful, or an order that involves an unusual health hazard, may be legitimately disobeyed. 

Here are two things to remember:

1. When there is a general violation of your collective agreement, “work now and grieve later.”
2. When in doubt, keep your clothes on.