Bird Richard is centrally located in Ottawa and serves clients nationally. Our clients range from large Crown Corporations with national operations to small local construction firms. We also provide services to corporations in Alberta, in the Northwest Territories and in Nunavut.
With mandatory vaccination policies (“MVPs”) turning the modern workplace into a contentious battleground, labour boards across Canada have had to grapple with the question of trade unions’ duty of fair representation (“DFR”) in challenging such policies. Two decisions have recently confirmed that where there is opposition to MVPs, a union is not required to file […]
The recent decision of Teamsters Local Union 847 v Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment 2022 CanLII 544, has provided guidance on the outcome of a failure of a unionized employee to provide information regarding their vaccination status in light of a vaccination policy being implemented. On September 2, 2021, the employer, Maple Leaf Sports and […]
There has been a recent flurry of arbitration decisions released in the last 3 months that provide guidance to employers concerning vaccination policies, and other requirements for COVID-19. In United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Canada Local 333 v. Paragon Protection Ltd. [unreported] the employer imposed a mandatory vaccination policy on its employees. It employed […]
The government of Ontario has passed Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, 2021, which amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) and other legislation. The Bill has received royal assent as of December 2, 2021 and is now officially a statute. Right to Disconnect The Act imposes an obligation for employers who employ 25 or […]
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In the case Hucsko v. A.O. Smith Enterprises, [2021] O.J. No. 6307, a long service employee was terminated for cause following an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and his refusal to apologize for the misconduct. Leading up to the termination of employment, there were several incidences of inappropriate conduct ranging from asking a female […]
The Ontario government announced that the Worker Income Benefit Program will be extended until July 31, 2022. As we have previously indicated, the program was in order to provide aid to employees who had no sick day coverage. In particular, this program provides employees with up to 3 days paid leave in the following circumstances: […]
A recent decision by the Divisional Court, called Nahum v Honeycomb Hospitality Inc., the Court was required to decide the question of whether a pregnancy should increase the length of a notice period of an employee who had their employment terminated whilst pregnant. The employer was not aware that she was pregnant at the time […]
In the recent decision between Ontario Power Generation and The Power Workers Union, the Arbitrator determined three issues, two that are important for unionized employers are as follows: Who bears the cost of testing for unvaccinated employees when it is a requirement of the employer in order to attend the workplace; and Is the termination […]
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