In Karim v. Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, 2024 HRTO 1231, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) dismissed a probationary employee’s claim that they were discriminated against with respect to employment because...more
2/26/2025
/ Canada ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Human Rights ,
Ontario ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Termination
On November 27, 2024, Ontario introduced Bill 229 - Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 (Bill 229) for First Reading. If enacted, the statutes amended would include the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), the Occupational...more
Ontario’s Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023 (“Bill 79”), amended several statutes, including the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). One of the amendments Bill 79 made to the ESA authorized the government to make...more
On October 28, 2024, Ontario’s Bill 190, Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 (Bill 190), received Royal Assent. Among other things, Bill 190 amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), Occupational Health and Safety...more
10/31/2024
/ Canada ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Harassment ,
OHSA ,
Ontario ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sick Leave ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance ,
Workplace Safety
In Croke v. VuPoint System Ltd., 2024 ONCA 354, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) upheld the Superior Court of Justice – Ontario (SCJ)’s summary judgment decision that an employee’s refusal to comply with their employer’s...more
8/20/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Frustration of a Common Purpose ,
Health and Safety ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Termination
A new General Labor Law (NGLL) was enacted by Law No. 12/23, of 27 December 2023, which came into force on March 26, 2024.The NGLL repealed the former General Labor Law (approved by Law No. 7/15, of June 15, 2015),...more
In Nelson v. Goodberry Restaurant Group Ltd. dba Buono Osteria and others, 2021 BCHRT 137, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal found that a restaurant and its managers that refused to use a server’s pronouns, among...more
3/21/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Canada ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Expression ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
LGBTQ ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Transgender
In Boyer v. Callidus, 2024 ONSC 20, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that an employee was entitled to $1.8 million in damages for unpaid vacation, bonuses, and stock options, because the terms of the relevant...more
The Ontario Human Rights Commission recently published a policy statement (Policy) pertaining to “caste-based discrimination” under Ontario’s Human Rights Code (Code). The Policy advises organizations that they have a legal...more
1/30/2024
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Canada ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Ontario ,
Policy Statement ,
Race Discrimination
In 2023, Canada saw significant statutory and case law developments in labour and employment law. This Insight provides an overview of notable 2023 developments, with links to more detailed articles and commentary....more
In Shalagin v. Mercer Celgar Limited Partnership, 2023 BCCA 373, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) upheld the lower court’s dismissal of an employee’s wrongful dismissal claim and its finding that his surreptitious...more
In Van Hee v Glenmore Inn Holdings Ltd., 2023 ABCJ 244 (Glenmore), the Alberta Court of Justice found that an employer’s mandatory vaccination policy was a reasonable, justified and lawful response to the extraordinary...more
12/18/2023
/ Canada ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On November 7, 2023, Prince Edward Island (PEI) introduced Bill 106, An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act (Bill 106) for First Reading. Bill 106 proposes to increase dramatically the paid sick leave to which employees...more
11/17/2023
/ Canada ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Standards Act ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
On November 14, 2023, Ontario introduced Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023 (Bill 149), for First Reading. If passed, Bill 149 would, among other things, amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), the Workplace...more
In Breen v Foremost Industries Ltd, 2023 ABKB 552, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta dismissed the claim of a President and CEO that he had been wrongfully dismissed from his employment, finding that his employment had...more
10/24/2023
/ Breach of Duty ,
Canada ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employees ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Personal Liability ,
Punitive Damages ,
Wrongful Termination
In Café La Foret Ltd. v. Cho, 2023 BCCA 354, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) upheld a lower court’s determination that an employee’s sexual harassment of his subordinate was not sufficiently serious to justify his...more
In Insurance Corporation of British Columbia v. Ari, 2023 BCCA 331, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) confirmed that an employer may be found vicariously liable when its employee violates of s. 1 of the province’s...more
8/24/2023
/ Canada ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Breach ,
Data Management ,
Employees ,
Employment Litigation ,
International Labor Laws ,
Personal Information ,
Statutory Violations ,
Vicarious Liability ,
Willful Violations
On May 11, 2023, British Columbia, Canada’s Bill 13, Pay Transparency Act (Act), received Royal Assent. Section 2 of the Act, which addresses the employer’s obligations regarding publicly advertised job opportunities, comes...more
5/24/2023
/ Canada ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pay Transparency ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Wage and Hour
In Chu v China Southern Airlines Company Limited, 2023 BCSC 21, the court held that an employer that attempted to manufacture just cause for the termination of a vulnerable employee breached its duty of good faith and fair...more
The Global Guide Quarterly (GGQ) is a newsletter Littler publishes on a quarterly basis to provide a general update on global labor and employment (L&E) law developments in key countries in the American, EMEA, and APAC...more
In Lake v. La Presse, 2022 ONCA 742, the only issue on appeal was whether the lower court erred in reducing the employee’s wrongful dismissal damages for failure to mitigate. The Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) set aside the...more
On June 23, 2022, Canada’s Bill C-19, Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1 received Royal Assent and amended Canada’s Competition Act. The Competition Act applies to all businesses operating in Canada, whether they are...more
11/2/2022
/ Canada ,
Competition ,
Competition Act ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Employee Mobility ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
International Labor Laws ,
No-Poaching ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage-Fixing
As previously reported, the Special Advisors to the Government of Ontario, Canada released their interim report on July 27, 2016 on ways in which the Ontario Labour Relations Act (“LRA”) and Ontario Employment Standards Act,...more
9/23/2016
/ Canada ,
Employees ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Independent Contractors ,
Interim Guidance ,
Joint Employers ,
Misclassification ,
Ontario Labour Relations Board ,
Subcontractors