A new federal minimum wage of $15 per hour applicable to federally regulated employees in the private sector was included in the Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1. ...more
In Kraft v. Firepower Financial Corp., 2021 ONSC 4962 (Firepower Financial), an employee brought a motion for summary judgment seeking 10 months’ salary in lieu of notice, commissions and bonuses, and holiday and vacation pay...more
British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC) recently released A human rights approach to proof of vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic (Guidance), which offers general advice on how employers and...more
8/17/2021
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Rights ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Canada’s federal Pay Equity Act (Act) received Royal Assent on December 13, 2018. The purpose of the Act is to create a proactive pay equity regime within the federal public and private sectors to ensure that federally...more
In Russell v. The Brick Warehouse LP, 2021 ONSC 4822 (The Brick Warehouse), on a motion for summary judgment in a wrongful dismissal action, the court awarded $25,000 in moral/aggravated damages because the employer breached...more
7/22/2021
/ Breach of Duty ,
Canada ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Without Prejudice Privilege ,
Wrongful Termination
In O’Reilly v. ClearMRI Solutions Ltd., 2021 ONCA 385 (ClearMRI Solutions), the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) decided that the motion judge erred in concluding that a majority shareholder of an employee’s contractual employer...more
7/8/2021
/ Canada ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Responsible Party ,
Shareholders ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
In a wrongful dismissal claim in Ontario, it is up to the employer to prove that employees failed to mitigate their damages and that had they taken reasonable steps to do so, they would have likely obtained equivalent or...more
6/29/2021
/ Bonuses ,
Canada ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Mitigation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
The recent Ontario decision, Hawkes v. Max Aicher (North America) Limited, 2021 ONSC 4290 (Max Aicher), establishes that global employment is factored into the calculation of an employer’s payroll under s. 64 of the...more
6/28/2021
/ Canada ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Ontario Labour Relations Board ,
Payroll Expenses ,
Severance Pay ,
Wage and Hour
As we have written previously, the test to determine whether an employer has a duty to accommodate family status is not consistent in all Canadian jurisdictions....more
On June 3, 2021, the federal government’s Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) received Royal Assent. This bill...more
Just six weeks after holding in Coutinho v. Ocular Health Centre Ltd. that Ontario Regulation 228/20 (IDEL Regulation) under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) did not remove an employee’s common law right to claim...more
6/16/2021
/ 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
Ontario recently enacted Bill 284, COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act, 2021, which amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to require employers to provide employees up to three days’ pay if they miss work for certain...more
6/4/2021
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Ontario ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Reimbursements ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Wage and Hour
In Phillips v. Westcan, 2020 ABQB 764, the Court of Queen’s Bench for Alberta denied an employee’s application for a permanent injunction against his non-unionized employer to prohibit the employer from randomly testing its...more
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
On April 28, 2021, Ontario announced in a News Release that it will soon introduce legislation that, if passed, would require employers to pay employees up to $200 per day for up to three days if they miss work for reasons...more
On April 23, 2021, Ontario filed Regulations 313/21, 314/21 and 315/21 under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020. The Regulations create new requirements relating to the temporary removal of...more
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
On April 19, 2021, Canada released its 2021 budget. Budget provisions impacting employers include those that extend certain business support programs implemented in response to COVID-19; expand access to Employment Insurance...more
In Currie v. Nylene Canada Inc., 2021 ONSC 1922, Ontario’s Superior Court held that “exceptional circumstances” existed to justify making an award that exceeded the 24-month “high end” amount of reasonable notice for...more
In Sharma v. Toronto (City), 2020 HRTO 949, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) provides a roadmap for how employers should determine whether they are required to accommodate employees and customers who seek...more
4/8/2021
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Exemptions ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Rights Code ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Masks ,
Ontario ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Workplace Safety
In Nahum v. Honeycomb Hospitality Inc., 2021 ONSC 1455, the Ontario Superior Court determined that an employee’s pregnancy should impact the calculation of her reasonable notice period for dismissal. The court awarded the...more
With increasing concerns over COVID-19 variants and the recent acceleration of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout to Ontario’s public, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was recently asked if the Government of Ontario would consider...more
The Ontario Court of Appeal’s (OCA) recent decision in Abbasbayli v. Fiera Foods Company, 2021 ONCA 95 (Fiera Foods) reminds corporate directors that: (a) an employee may be able to make a claim against them in a wrongful...more
A recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision indicates that it is challenging for employers to obtain an interim injunction requiring an employee to remove allegedly defamatory social media posts pending resolution of...more
3/2/2021
/ Black Lives Matter ,
Canada ,
Defamation ,
Employment Litigation ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injunctive Relief ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Race Relations ,
Social Media
Posting: Employment Standards Act, 2000 -
The poster is prepared by the Minister of Labour to help ensure employers understand their minimum obligations and employees know their rights.
...more