Decisions Needed

**This featured case is one example of the concerns people have brought to us. Names have been changed to protect the identity of the people involved.

“Jane” contacted our Office because she was concerned she had been waiting too long for an appeal decision from Ms. Rusti-Ann Blanke, an adjudicator appointed under The Saskatchewan Employment Act. 

After an investigation, an occupational health officer concluded that Jane’s employment was terminated unlawfully. This meant Jane was to be reinstated. Jane’s employer appealed. Ms. Blanke was assigned to hear the appeal. Jane’s employer successfully applied to have Jane’s reinstatement stayed until the matter was heard and decided. The matter was heard in June 2016, but Ms. Blanke still has not rendered her decision.

We reviewed the facts and found that Ms. Blanke’s failure to complete the decision in Jane’s case within the statutory timeframe of 60 days is contrary to the law, and the extraordinary delay in her doing so since then is extremely unfair to all parties to the proceedings. We also found that there were six other cases in which the parties have been awaiting a decision from Ms. Blanke since June 2016 or earlier.

We concluded that there were no reasonable recommendations we could make in this case that would improve the situation. We have, however, published a report on the matter with the hope that this will prompt the adjudicator to fulfill her commitments on these outstanding appeals.