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BIRD RICHARD
508-130 Albert St,
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5G4
T: 613-238-3772
F: 613-238-5955
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Before you send an e-mail to Bird Richard, please be aware that your communications with us through this message will not create a lawyer-client relationship with us. Do not send us any information that you or anyone else considers to be confidential or secret unless we have first agreed to be your lawyers in that matter. Any information you send us before we agree to be your lawyers cannot be protected from disclosure.
Legislative Update: Leaves to Help Families Now in Force
/in Winter 2015 /by BirdRichardIn the Summer 2014 issue of EMPlawyers Update, we informed readers about Bill 21, the Employment Standards Amendment Act (Leaves to Help Families), 2013, which amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to create family caregiver leave, critically ill child care leave and crime-related child death or disappearance leave. Bill 21 came into force […]
Expert Advisory Panel on Occupational Health and Safety Releases 2013-2014 Report
/in Winter 2015 /by BirdRichardThe Expert Advisory Panel on Occupational Health and Safety was created in 2010, in order to conduct an extensive and comprehensive review of Ontario’s occupational health and safety (OHS) system and to recommend structural, operational and policy improvements to that system. Since its inception, the Expert Advisory Panel has released annual reports to the Ontario […]
Loose Lips Sink Ships – Repayment Obligation
/in Winter 2015 /by BirdRichardThe benefit of restrictive covenants, such as a non-disclosure provision in a settlement agreement, was recently underscored in the Ontario Superior Court decision of Wong v. Globe and Mail. To briefly recount the facts, Jan Wong had been employed by the Globe and Mail for 21 years prior to her termination. She was on and […]
Quebec Employer Not Permitted to Waive Employee Notice of Resignation
/in Fall 2014 /by BirdRichardThe Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that an employer who receives notice of resignation from an employee cannot terminate the contract of employment before the notice period expires without providing notice of termination or pay in lieu thereof. In a prior edition of EMPLAWYERS’ UPDATE, we informed our readers of the Quebec Court of […]
Overtime Class Action Settlement Approved
/in Fall 2014 /by BirdRichardIn previous editions of EMPLawyers’ Update, we chronicled the developments of multi-million dollar class actions for withheld or underpaid overtime hours filed against various national banks. For the Bank of Nova Scotia, this saga may be nearing its end, as on August 12, 2014 Justice Belobaba of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved a […]
Mental Stress Legislation Deemed Unconstitutional
/in Fall 2014 /by BirdRichardIn a recent decision, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal determined that the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 and Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) policy eligibility requirement of “sudden traumatic onset” of mental stress is in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This controversial ruling arose from an Appellant […]
Update on Cruden: Procedural Duty of Accommodation
/in Fall 2014 /by BirdRichardThe winter edition of EMPLAWYERS’ UPDATE informed our readers about the Federal Court decision that determined the Canadian Human Rights Act (the “Act”) does not impose procedural duties on employers in the course of fulfilling the duty of accommodation. On May 20, 2014, dismissing an appeal by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”), the […]
Employers Cannot Be Forced to Resume Business, Rules Canada’s Top Court
/in Fall 2014 /by BirdRichardWal-Mart began operating in Jonquiere, Quebec in 2001. The United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 503 (“the Union”) became the certified bargaining agent for its employees in 2004. After several months of unsuccessful negotiations, an arbitrator was appointed to establish the first collective agreement between the parties. Just one week later, Wal-Mart announced its intention […]
Discrimination and Family Status: the Federal Court of Appeal Weighs In
/in Summer 2014 /by BirdRichardThe Federal Court of Appeal has decided that discrimination on the basis of family status is established where a work schedule interferes with an employee’s childcare obligations, and the employee has been unsuccessful in reasonable efforts to make alternate arrangements. The decision in Johnstone v. Canada (Border Services), released on May 2nd, 2014, partially allowed […]
Legislative Update: Leaves to Help Families
/in Summer 2014 /by BirdRichardIn the Spring 2013 issue of EMPlawyers Update, we informed readers about Bill 21, the Employment Standards Amendment Act (Leaves to Help Families), 2013, which amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to create the following leaves: Family caregiver leave: up to eight weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for employees to provide care or support […]