The following is from the National Post:

Toronto – In a case that could have wide-ranging implications for scores of religious institutions, an Ontario labour board will decide whether inspectors at a kosher inspection company are “normal employees” or are answering a higher calling by fulfilling a sacred duty.

The Kashruth Council of Canada, a Toronto-based group that examines a range of food processors to make sure companies are producing kosher products, told a board hearing Thursday that their inspectors hold a “religious office” and are therefore exempt from overtime pay under the Ontario Employment Standards Act.

But former employee Morley Rand said the argument is nonsense and simply an excuse to save money, noting his work as an inspector is more technical than religious. Mr. Rand’s son, Michael, is also part of the case but now lives in Israel.

The case was heard Thursday at the Ontario Labour Relations Board in Toronto. A decision is not expected for at least two months.

The act allows for exemptions from overtime for those holding “political, judicial or religious office.” It has always been interpreted narrowly to mean just elected officials, judges and clergy, an Ontario Ministry of Labour representative explained earlier.

Legal observers say the case could have an enormous impact on religious-based institutions — everything from homeless shelters to social-service agencies and fundraising groups. If the tribunal accepts Kashruth’s argument, it could open a floodgate of applications for the exemption and could scare off potential employees from religious groups, they say.

But Israel Balter, the lawyer for Kashruth, said kosher inspection could be interpreted only as a religious task.

“The provision for kosher foods is not a passing whim but a divine commandment,” said Mr. Balter. “And it is a serious sin under Jewish law [not to keep kosher.]”

He added: “This is a key part of Judaism — there is nothing temporal or secular about it.”

Mr. Balter said the relationship between Kashruth and the Rands “was religious in nature.”

Jewish dietary laws can be extremely complex, and before something can be called “kosher” it must pass through numerous tests. Companies that want to certify their products as kosher will hire Kashruth to get a stamp of approval.

The company employs dozens of inspectors and has contracts with more that 1,000 institutions — from catering halls to supermarkets to nursing-home kitchens and industrial producers of cooking oil. They inspect 45,000 products.

An inspector’s job could be as simple as ensuring a “kosher kitchen” is not mixing milk and meat and that the meat was produced by Jewish ritual slaughter. For catering companies that have two kitchens — one kosher and one non-kosher — an inspector will make sure that nothing is ever transferred from one kitchen to the other.

For large food industries, it can go so far as making sure machinery is “kosherized” to ensure no non-kosher defects are in the final products.

Rabbi Tsvi Heber, the director of community kosher relations for Kashruth, said the work is important because even if an observant Jew accidentally eats non-kosher food it will damage his soul.

He described the inspector’s role as more of a vocation than a job because he is in a sense acting as a “rabbi” for the company he is inspecting.

“Applications of Jewish laws govern the way a Jewish person walks the path in this world,” he added.

Inspectors must be Orthodox Jews who pray in an Orthodox synagogue and follow religious law in their personal lives.

Mr. Morley, who represented himself at the hearing, argued the exemptions in the act were designed for rabbis, priests and ministers only — because no congregation could afford all the overtime a religious leader would incur in the normal course of a day.

Mr. Morley, who worked for Kashruth for 23 years before leaving in 2010, said he put in many overtime hours covering special events like catered weddings. When he left, he was making about $700 a week.

He pointed out that unlike a rabbi, he had no formal training for his job let alone a “religious office.” He added that in many situations he would have to call in a rabbi before making a decision at one of the plants he was inspecting.

At the end of Thursday’s proceedings, Brian McLean, the vice-chair of the board, said his decision could go either way and urged the parties to settle before he has made up his mind. He warned that if this case ends up in court it could become expensive.

(Source: National Post)