1. Gather your evidence

Evidence is information or documents that prove what happened. At your consultation or hearing, it's important to have evidence that proves what happened.

Documents

Keep track of any documents that could help you prove what happened and keep them in a safe place. Documents can be pictures, written documents, tape recordings, digital documents, video, or anything else that has recorded evidence.

Here are some of the documents you might need:

• a decision made by a Ministry of Labour inspector, if you have one
• letters from your employer, including any disciplinary letters
• your employment contract
• notes from meetings or conversations with other people at work
• pictures of unsafe equipment, machines, or workplaces
• safety materials your employer gave you, for example, a copy of your workplace health and safety policy

If you have an in-person hearing, make a few copies of your documents and bring them to your consultation or hearing. You need a copy for yourself and you might need to give copies for other people there, like your employer, an inspector, or the Vice-Chair. The Vice-Chair is the person who makes decisions at the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB).

At least 10 business days before your hearing or consultation, you must send the OLRB and your employer a copy of any documents you want to use as evidence in your hearing.

Number the pages on all of your documents. You must also send a table of contents describing each document.

You can give your evidence to your employer in-person, by courier, fax, or regular mail. You can also send it by email if your employer agrees. Keep a copy of any receipt as proof that you gave your employer a copy of your application. You should also note the date and time you gave the application.

Once you've sent in all your documents, complete Form A-136: Certificate of Delivery. If you've sent your documents by email, you must also complete Form A-139: Declaration for Delivering by Email During Pandemic and send it to the OLRB.

Then, send your documents and the completed Form A-136 to the OLRB. You can do this by courier or by regular mail. You can also e-file by using Form A-108.

Witnesses

Witnesses are people who are part of the hearing. They say what they know about what happened. Witnesses must promise to tell the truth at the hearing.

If there is someone besides you and your employer that who you want to be a witness, you can ask them to speak at your hearing. If they say no, you can ask the OLRB to issue a summons. A summons is a document that tells a witness that they must come to the hearing.

Ask for a summons for each witness you want to attend the hearing. You can also ask a witness to bring documents with them to the hearing.

If you need a summons, you should ask the OLRB for it as soon as you can. You have to give the summons to the witness in person. And you might have to pay for the witness to come to the hearing. For example, you might have to pay the witness money for travel to the hearing. If you do need to pay, you will have to pay the witness when you give them the summons.