Termination Clauses must be read as a Whole to Determine Intention of the Parties In Amberber v. IBM Canada Ltd., 2018 ONCA 571, released June 22, 2018, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“OCA”) has released another decision regarding the interpretation of a termination clause in an employment contract. The decision is good news for employers. […]
Employee Benefits in Ontario – Termination of Benefits of Employees 65 Years and Older In Talos v. Grand Erie District School Board, 2018 HRTO 680, which was released on May 18, 2018, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal considered the impact of benefit plans that terminate at age 65. The employee was a teacher who received […]
PIPEDA Mandatory Notification for Federally Regulated Organizations Particular sections of the Digital Privacy Act that amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) will come into force on November 1st, 2018. Organizations which are subject to PIPEDA will be required to report to the Federal Privacy Commissioner where any breach of a security […]
Bird Richard is pleased to welcome our newest Associate, Travis Ujjainwalla, who joined the Firm in January of this year. Travis was called to the Bar in 2017. Travis provides advice to employers on statutory obligations, wrongful dismissals, and human rights claims. Travis is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and the […]
In Aitchison v L&L Painting and Decorating Ltd., the Ontario Human Right’s Tribunal has provided guidance to employers regarding the use of zero tolerance policies concerning drug use in the workplace and medically prescribed marijuana. The employer was a commercial subcontractor involved in the restoration of high-rise buildings. The employee had been employed as a […]
As we first reported in the Summer 2014 edition of EMPLawyers’ Update, in 2012, Suncor announced a new policy that would include random drug and alcohol testing in safety-sensitive positions. The Union obtained an interim injunction preventing random testing until an arbitration board rendered a decision on its grievance against such a policy. The arbitration […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal has recently ruled once again, on the validity of a termination clause contained in an employment contract in Nemeth v. Hatch Ltd., [2018] O.J. No. 145. In this case, the termination clause read: The Company’s policy with respect to termination is that employment may be terminated by either party with […]
On December 14th, 2017, Bill 177, Stronger, Fairer Ontario Act, (Budget Measures) 2017, received Royal Assent. As a result, significant amendments came into force on January 1, 2018 surrounding WSIB claims for mental stress under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (“WSIA”). Prior to the implementation of these amendments, entitlement to mental stress claims was […]
As a result of Bill 148, on April 1, 2018, new equal pay for equal work provisions came into force under the Employment Standards Act, 2000. The new provisions are aimed at equalizing pay between workers performing substantially the same type of work under similar working conditions, irrespective of their status as part-time, full-time, temporary, […]
Changes to the Employment Insurance (EI) parental benefits regime and related leaves under the Employment Insurance Act and Canada Labour Code came into force on December 3, 2017. As previously reported, this new regime, enacted under Bill C-44, will to allow parents to choose between: an extended period of EI parental benefits of up to […]