As an employment lawyer for employers, whenever a client asks whether they should have a contract in place for their employees, my answer is always “yes, absolutely!”. While employment contracts are good for the parties to understand their rights and obligations in the relationship, they also contain important clauses which protect parties’ interests. One of […]
As it currently stands, non-unionized construction workers are not entitled to notice of termination, termination pay, or severance pay pursuant to the O.Reg.288/01 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000. A construction employee is defined as follows by the ESA: “construction employee” means, (a) an employee employed at the site in any of the activities described […]
On June 24, 2020, the Minister of Labour announced the new Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations that will come into force on January 1, 2021. The regulations will amend the Canada Labour Code, and will replace Part XX of the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations. The following are some highlights of the legislation: […]
Changes to the Canada Labour Code, R.S.C., 1985 took effect on September 1, 2020 and will be passed through the Standards for Work-Integrated Learning Activities Regulations. These regulations have been passed in order to offer additional protections for interns and student interns working for federally regulated industries or workplaces. An intern does not have to […]
As a result of COVID-19, employers are increasingly offering employees the opportunity to work from home. As many employers have recognized, at-home work is likely a necessity given the realities of COVID-19. Even after the pandemic has passed, it is likely that Canadian workplaces are forever changed as a result. As such, we have outlined […]
There is a line of authority that says an employer cannot lay off an employee without a clear contractual right to do so (express or implied) and that in the absence of that contractual right, the imposition of a layoff (including a temporary layoff as permissible under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000) constitutes constructive […]
On June 26, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a landmark decision which has opened up the door for an enormous class action lawsuit by Uber drivers for minimum wage. To become an Uber driver, individuals were required accept a standard services agreement which provided that they were independent contractors and that any dispute […]
COVID-19 has resulted in a flurry of changes to legislation throughout Ontario and Canada. In order to stay on top of the changes, we have provided a summary of the changes to Ontario and the Federal legislation below: Ontario Ontario modified the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”), by implementing the Emergency Leave: Declared Emergencies and […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that another termination clause in an employment contract is unenforceable. In Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc., the Court was asked to determine the legal impact of an illegal termination for cause provision on an otherwise enforceable termination without cause provision. The Employer admitted that the “with cause” […]
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