Last May, the government of Ontario filed Ontario Regulation 228/20 (IDEL Regulation) under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). The Regulation provides that an employee in a non-unionized workplace who, any time during...more
5/4/2021
/ Canada ,
Common Law Claims ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Layoffs ,
Ontario
In Labrador Recycling Inc. v. Folino, 2021 ONSC 2195 (Labrador Recycling), Ontario’s Superior Court denied an employer’s motion for an urgent injunction to restrain its former employee from competing with it contrary to the...more
4/22/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Breach of Contract ,
Breach of Duty ,
Canada ,
Competition ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Injunctions ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
In Quach v. Mitrux Services Ltd., 2020 BCCA 25 (Quach), the British Columbia Court of Appeal overturned the trial court’s decision to award aggravated damages to an individual whose job was terminated before his employment...more
The purpose of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is to develop, implement and enforce accessibility standards to achieve accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities, with respect to goods,...more
On October 20, 2020, Ontario introduced Bill 218, Supporting Ontario’s Recovery and Municipal Elections Act, 2020 (Bill 218) for First Reading. Bill 218, which would provide employers with a degree of liability protection...more
The Ontario Superior Court recently issued a decision in Sewell v. Provincial Fruit Co. Limited, 2020 ONSC 4406 (Sewell), applying the reasoning set forth in the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) decision, Waksdale v. Swegon...more
10/7/2020
/ Canada ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Just Cause ,
Ontario ,
Termination Clauses
On June 4, 2020, in International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1620 v. Lower Churchill Transmission Construction Employers’ Association Inc., 2020 NLCA 20 (“International Brotherhood”), the Court of Appeal of...more
On May 29, 2020, the government of Ontario filed Ontario Regulation 228/20 (Regulation) under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). The Regulation amends layoff and constructive dismissal rules exclusively under the ESA,...more
Most workplaces in Canada are subject to provincial or territorial occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation. Federally regulated workplaces are governed by the federal OHS laws set out in Part II of the Canada Labour...more
On March 16, 2020, Premier Doug Ford and Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, announced that the Ontario government intends to introduce legislation that, if passed, would immediately provide...more
3/18/2020
/ Canada ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Public Health ,
Quarantine ,
Sick Leave ,
Workplace Safety
Whether a wrongfully dismissed employee is entitled to damages as compensation for the value of incentives that would have vested during the reasonable notice period is frequently litigated in Canada....more
2/27/2020
/ Ambiguous ,
Bonuses ,
Canada ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Contract Drafting ,
Contract Terms ,
Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Incentive Stock Options ,
Ontario ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wrongful Termination
In Teamsters Local Union 847 v Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, 2019 CanLII 95328 (ON LA), a part-time restaurant employee in Ontario, Canada with two years’ seniority was discharged from her employment because her...more
1/28/2020
/ Absenteeism ,
Arbitration ,
Attendance ,
Canada ,
Collective Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Filing Grievances ,
Food Service Workers ,
Labor Regulations ,
Ontario ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Teamsters ,
Termination ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Canada saw significant developments in labour and employment law in 2019. As we embark on a new decade, we will undoubtedly see the landscape in this ever-changing area of law continue to evolve....more
1/9/2020
/ Amended Legislation ,
Appeals ,
Canada ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Labour Code ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Substance Abuse ,
Tort ,
Undue Hardship
In Canada, employers that host holiday parties for their employees could expose themselves to significant common law liability for the actions of an employee or guest who is under the influence of alcohol or cannabis....more
12/3/2019
/ Best Management Practices ,
Canada ,
Cannabis Products ,
Drunk Driving ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Holiday Parties ,
Holidays ,
Human Rights ,
Marijuana ,
OHSA ,
Recreational Use ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Wine & Alcohol
When Canada’s Cannabis Act and supporting regulations came into force on October 17, 2018, Canada became the first major world economy to establish a legal framework at the federal level for the adult recreational use of...more
11/26/2019
/ Artificial Impairment ,
Canada ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Act ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Regulations ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana-Infused Edibles ,
Medical Foods ,
Plant Based Products ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recreational Use ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Safety Standards ,
Workplace Safety
In Manastersky v. Royal Bank of Canada, 2019 ONCA 609, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“OCA”) considered the important question of whether a terminated employee is entitled to be awarded damages in lieu of a lost opportunity to...more
As employment lawyers that represent management, we invariably counsel our clients that they must treat complaints of harassment in the workplace seriously, and take immediate steps to investigate them. A recent case,...more
5/28/2019
/ Canada ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Default Judgment ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hostile Environment ,
Internal Reporting ,
Ontario ,
Retaliation ,
Workplace Violence
The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador rendered a welcome decision in February for employers across Canada that have been struggling to balance their obligations under occupational health and safety and human rights...more
4/11/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Canada ,
Construction Project ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Health and Safety ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Undue Hardship ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety
In early 2017, in a case about strained relations between a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the “RCMP”) member and several of his supervisors, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (the “ONSC”) created a new “tort of...more
British Columbia Extends Family Leave Policies -
New Legislation Enacted -
On May 17, 2018, British Columbia amended legislation to give employees in the province pregnancy, parental, and compassionate care leaves. ...more
8/2/2018
/ Appeals ,
Canada ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights ,
International Labor Laws ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Ontario ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Pay Transparency ,
Wage and Hour
The interview process is a time-consuming, planned procedure in which the parties seek to learn as much as possible about each other before determining whether it is a match. In addition to probing the candidate’s...more
3/12/2018
/ Ban the Box ,
Canada ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
Ontario ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Wage and Hour
In Canada, termination clauses in employment agreements are critical tools that allow an employer to avoid providing reasonable notice of termination under the common law. Each year there are numerous court decisions on this...more
Bill 132, entitled “Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act (Supporting Survivors and Challenging Sexual Violence and Harassment), 2015” (hereinafter the “Bill”) has now been passed into law in Ontario and will be in...more