We first reported on Ontario Bill 68, The Open for Business Act, 2010, in our Fall 2010 newsletter. As of January 19th, 2011, amendments to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) pursuant to Bill 68 have changed the ESA claims process in Ontario. The amendments aim to encourage employers and employees to resolve ESA issues internally, […]
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the reinstatement of two Air Canada pilots compelled to retire upon reaching age 60. The pilots’ retirement was mandatory according to the terms of both the pension plan and the collective agreement between the airline and the union. The two Air Canada Pilots argued that being forced to […]
The Firm welcomes our new Associate Katherine Symonds. Katherine completed her articles with the Firm and has recently been called to the Bar.
Last summer, Bill 168 was declared in force by the Ontario Government. This Bill made significant amendments to Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, and placed onerous obligations on employers with respect to workplace harassment and violence prevention. The Bill made it mandatory for all Ontario employers to conduct risk assessments of their workplaces, create […]
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released a new policy on the prevention of sexual and gender-based harassment in early 2011. The policy provides a general overview of sexual and gender-based harassment, and then offers more context-specific information for employers, as well as for housing providers and educators. The policy provides examples of conduct that […]
In our Summer 2010 newsletter, we reported on an award of Arbitrator Owen Shime, in which he ordered the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) to pay over $500,000 in damages for bad faith conduct in the termination of a PSAC employee for suspected abuse of sick leave. This unprecedented award included: damages for past and […]
Several recent decisions of courts and tribunals across Canada have answered the question “who is the employer?” In three recent decisions, a broad view was taken of the concepts of “employee” and “employment,” while a recent decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal moves in a different direction. Ontario Court of Appeal In Ontario (Ministry […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently released its judgment in R. v. Cole, in which it set out employee’s privacy rights with respect to personal information stored on a work computer. A school board had launched an investigation after noticing that there was a high level of activity between a teacher’s work computer, which had […]
In order to improve internal operational efficiencies at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) and to better serve Canadians, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA, the “Act”) has been amended. Some amendments have already been enacted, while others are forthcoming. The amendments are, in large part, a result of the five-year […]
Emergency procedure, plans or public safety information 13. (1) In addition to its obligations under section 12, if an obligated organization prepares emergency procedures, plans or public safety information and makes the information available to the public, the obligated organization shall provide the information in an accessible format or with appropriate communication supports, as soon […]