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Ontario’s Proposed Changes to mass Lay-offs

The Ontario government is proposing updates to the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA) in an effort to protect remote workers. The proposed amendments seek to ensure that remote workers receive the same notice of termination, or pay-in-lieu of notice, as in-office employees would receive in mass termination situations. Currently, employers are only required to share […]

Ontario Expanding Cancer Coverage for Firefighters

The Ontario government has announced that it will be introducing regulatory amendments to expand cancer coverage for firefighters. The amendments to the Ontario Regulation 253/07 made under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, will expand the list of presumptive illnesses to include certain cancers. The amendments will provide firefighters with access to compensation to support the […]

Supreme Court of Canada denies Leave; Affirming E-consent as Valid and Binding

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) recently denied leave to appeal in Battiston v. Microsoft Canada Inc., 2021 ONCA 727. The SCC decision reinforces an Ontario Court of Appeal decision which concluded that an employee’s consent through an internal e-consent process was a valid means of bringing an agreement, and in particular, termination provisions to the employee’s […]

BC Supreme Court Finds Placing an Employee on Unpaid Leave for failing to Comply with Mandatory Vaccination Policy is not a Constructive Dismissal

In Parmar v. Tribe Management Inc., the British Columbia Supreme Court recently became the first court in Canada to confirm that an employer is entitled to place an employee on an unpaid leave of absence for failing to comply with its mandatory vaccination policy. The Court confirmed that placing the non-unionized employee on unpaid leave […]

Bill C-27: Modernizing Canada’s Privacy Laws and its Impact on Employers

On June 16, 2022, the federal government tabled Bill C-27, Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022. If passed, Bill C-27 would provide stronger legal frameworks in the areas of privacy and data protection throughout the country. Bill C-27 aims to accomplish this through the introduction of three acts: The Consumer Privacy Protection Act (the “CPPA”), The Personal Information […]

Arbitrator Strikes Down Mandatory Vaccine Policy due to Outdated Definition of “Fully Vaccinated”

In a recent arbitral decision released on June 17, 2022, FCA Canada Inc. v. Unifor, Locals 195,444,1285, 2022 CanLII 52913 (ON LA), an arbitrator considered whether a mandatory vaccine policy, in a federally regulated workplace, ought to continue given the shifting nature of the pandemic. This was considered in the context of a unionized workplace. […]

Federal Government suspends Mandatory Vaccine Policy

As of June 20, 2022, the federal government suspended its Policy on COVID-19 Vaccination for Core Public Administration employees (the “Policy”). The Policy initially came into force on October 6, 2021. The Government of Canada release states that vaccines continue to provide strong protection against serious illness, and provide a level of protection against infection […]