Answers to frequently asked questions from employers
regarding COVID-19 – the impact, rules and best practices for addressing the global coronavirus outbreak in the workplace. (Last Updated April 1, 2020).
Further free resources can be found here.
Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.
I launched SpringLaw 3 years ago. It was on April Fool’s Day 2017 and a friend of mine questioned whether I should delay it by a day so that people would not mistake my launch of a virtual law firm as a joke. My assistant Sandi and I proceeded to launch aways, figuring we’d be in the clear by noon that day.
Fast forward to three years later: we are in a very different world. Even before the current virus pandemic, the ease and comfort of communicating and working through tech have moved forward at such a fast clip.
Over the last few weeks (yes, the virus has only been here for a few weeks!), the world has been forced to face remote working and to engage in the online economy. For those of us already there, it’s been no big deal, but it’s not a system you can just whip up overnight.
Here are my thoughts on the key ingredients to a successful online law firm.
How to Set Up a Virtual Law Firm
A good tech and video conferencing set-up makes remote work very similar to working in a bricks & mortar office. Let me repeat: very similar. Not inferior, not “almost as good”, not “until we can meet up after social distancing is over”.
I have always believed a tech-based virtual firm can be as good or better than a traditional in-person firm, as long as there is careful planning, intentional systems of accountability, both formal and informal communications systems, a true open-door policy when mentoring juniors, and a deliberate mapping out of tech that syncs up seamlessly together.
Connect People
We are currently a team of 8, in order of appearance: Hilary, Janice, Marnie, Jessica, Danielle, Deidre and Amanda. My team is by far the most valuable asset of SpringLaw. It remains my daily focus and priority and no law firm can succeed without constant attention to its people. My team inspires me daily, teaches me, brings great ideas to the table, and is the backbone of SpringLaw’s future.
We are on the google platform, have various chat rooms, daily video calls, a mandatory weekly all-team video call to talk through legal issues, quarterly in-person meetups for bonding and strategy talks, an annual overnight retreat, and daily telephone and in-document collaboration.
We’ve become giphy professionals (Sally Triangle being my fav win shoutout gif) and the day to day humour, fun and emotional support are the backbone of the firm. I want people to want to come to work, to feel motivated and inspired by our colleagues, and to always feel valued on our team.
More Inclusive
If planned out properly, the deliberate communications and collaboration systems can amount to more inclusiveness in the office, more regular check-ins, and more 1:1 facetime between mentors 
and mentees. Gone are the cliques and clubs of a traditional firm, where a lot of the mentoring happens at lunch in the food court or when a partner takes a particular shine to someone he sees as his successor. Women are usually on the losing end of that approach, regardless of how many golf lessons we take or sports scores we memorize. Introverts and nose-down lawyers who want to get out of the office instead of doing the post-5pm debriefs and war storytime also benefit from a more organized, online system.
A law firm is about people, about our learning environment, staying up to date on the law, developing practical legal skills and having the safe space to make mistakes and grow. This has never just happened by wandering through the halls and “absorbing” learning. People will always get lost in the shuffle in that traditional system. A deliberate online system can really help plug people directly into the warp core of the firm and not get lost on the sidelines.
Whether it’s our current articling student Deidre, our 2019 student Sherifa, our junior colleague Oren who worked with us in 2019, or our current mid-level lawyer Danielle, having standing weekly meetings to review files and be available for questions builds confident, skilled lawyers. Our senior lawyers Hilary and Marnie each participate actively in mentoring, supporting the team and just being super nice people to newer lawyers in the firm. This is no different in a traditional firm, but because we don’t just bump into each other in the hallways, our scheduled interactions ensure regular and frequent internal coaching.
Work Product Collaboration
Aside from the formal and informal mentoring, being able to work directly in documents with colleagues in real-time, while on a video or phone call brings collaboration to a new level. Rather than sitting across the desk from a senior partner, watching him or her revise your draft with a red pen, then sending it over to an assistant to do up, then email or save that draft as another version (was it version 2 or 2b or the one with the new name? or new date?), you just sit virtually side by side and work on it together, often while on a video or telephone call at the same time.
We can do edits together, hammer through rush jobs faster, see and talk through each other’s revisions for teaching moments, and save so much time. Working remotely across Ontario means our systems assume we will not see each other and builds in digital connection and systems. Making all of your client documents, communications, files and resources paperless and available to all will make your collaboration seamless and efficient.
Clients Dig It
“But I really want to go meet my lawyer in their fancy office in person” – said hardly any 21st-century client ever.
When a person seeks out legal help, they are usually at a moment of crisis or at the least, have a big expensive problem to solve. In that pressing moment, does your client really want to pack up all their paperwork and files, get into a car or on the subway, find their way in the PATH or parking lot, go into a beautiful, expensive looking lobby, be greeted with expensive coffee to keep them occupied while they wait in that lobby wondering how much of their hourly bill goes to the fresh flowers on the reception desk, and then make their way home or back to work afterwards in traffic and hassle?
Other than at litigation proceedings, we do not meet clients in person and have had to turn away around 3-4 people in the last 3 years because of that. However, we’ve gained many, many more clients because of our virtual set up and our ability to reach clients without geographic restrictions.
If the whole point is to talk to a lawyer and be advised on an issue or documents, why not just email the docs and have a video call? It saves the client so much time, they can sit in the comfort of their own home or convenience of their office. If you focus on making your intake process as digital as possible, then meeting up with a lawyer the same day is often possible. Clients don’t want to wait around until next week’s appointment anymore. They do, however, typically want to combine the digital onboarding with a personal check-in, usually by phone.
Our Administrative Secret Sauces
When building out a virtual firm, the nature of the admin roles shifts. I don’t need any front line assistants to type out my letters or file my emails. We focus more on what admin professionals we need to support our clients and our team in a tech-integrated manner.
Our Client Services Manager, Jessica, is our secret sauce to ensuring the digital process doesn’t get in the way of a personal touch, and to build trust with potential clients looking for a lawyer. Our Office Manager, Janice, is the secret sauce for anyone with invoice or billing related issues and is the brains and talent behind so much of our firm’s systems, financial strategy, HR, tech set up and pretty much everything else. Our Project Manager, Amanda is our secret sauce for supporting our team, organizing our in-person meetings and building out our online solutions.
I realize there are areas of law where the client doesn’t have the tech skills or resources to access the law online. This is a serious A2J issue we’ll collectively need to figure out, but not a concern for most of your typical clients already in the pipeline.
The Clients Changed Years Ago Anyway
I’ve had old-school lawyers approach me at law gatherings (yes! I do still go to things in person!) and say you cannot replace the eye to eye in-person experience. Those same people are now bragging about their (3 week-old) Zoom skills and how effective their online services are. Change is hard for humanity, but the sooner lawyers realize that their clients pivoted years ago, the sooner we’ll get out of our ivory towers where we think our services are so fundamentally different or more profound than any other serious personal or business issue out there.
What clients really want is cost-effective, efficient, relevant, practical, down-to-earth, personal and real legal advice. Having tech and digital support for all of that is a win-win for growing your firm and serving your clients in a way that better resonates with most people out there in the real world.
COVID-19 has ushered in a new reality that, for some, will be a permanent change. For others, a welcome acknowledgement that remote working is just no biggie.
Thank you to all of our clients, friends and family for all of your support during our first 3 years. Here’s to 30 more!
Answers to frequently asked questions from employers regarding COVID-19 – the impact, rules and best practices for addressing the global coronavirus outbreak in the workplace. (Last Updated March 30, 2020).
Further free resources can be found here.
Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.
The measures introduced to protect us all from COVID-19 have had a huge economic impact on individuals and businesses. The federal government has been rolling out – and changing – various relief measures over the past few weeks.
Today we will outline two new measures which will likely be helpful to many of the businesses and individuals impacted: the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the Small Business 75% Wage Subsidy.
An Alternative to EI: The Canada Emergency Response Benefit
The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was announced on March 25, 2020. It is an alternative form of loss of income benefit.
The CERB will provide $2,000 a month for up to four months (16 weeks) to workers who have somehow lost their incomes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some differences between this benefit and EI:
Who qualifies? In order to qualify for this benefit, an individual will have to have lost their income because of COVID-19. A loss of income could result from being unable to work due to illness or caregiving responsibilities, or because contracts or work hours have been cancelled, and likely other reasons. Employees who are unable to work because their workplace has been closed, for example, will also be able to get this benefit.
We do not have details about this benefit yet, but the feds say that applications will be available in early April.
Payments will begin within 10 days of applying and can be retroactive to March 15, 2020.
Support for Small Businesses: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy – 75%
On March 27, 2020, the federal government announced new supports for impacted small businesses, among them a new 75% wage subsidy. On March 30, 2020, PM Trudeau stated that employers should bring laid-off employees back, with the help of this subsidy, wherever possible.
Qualifying businesses will be able to access this benefit for up to 3 months. Eligibility criteria will be available before the end of the month – so presumably today or tomorrow. We expect that employers will need to demonstrate a significant dip in revenue due to COVID-19. The benefit will be retroactive to March 15, 2020.
Currently in place, is a 10% wage subsidy, up to a maximum subsidy of $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per eligible employer.
Eligible employers must be a non-profit organization, registered charity, or a Canadian-controlled private corporation AND have an existing business number and payroll program account with the CRA on March 18, 2020, AND pay salary, wages, bonuses, or other remuneration to an employee.
Canadian-controlled private corporations are only eligible for the subsidy if their taxable capital employed in Canada for the preceding taxation year, calculated on an associated group basis, is less than $15 million.
Businesses receive this subsidy by reducing their remittances of income tax withheld on their employees’ pay.
Check out additional supports for businesses here.
Parting Thoughts
Stay tuned for updates on our blog and access our CODIV-19 resources. We are constantly updating our resources as new information becomes available.
If you’d like to book a consultation to speak with us about your unique situation we are here to help! Get in touch.
FAQs for Employers – Frequently asked questions by employers needing more information on the impact, rules and best practices for addressing the global coronavirus outbreak. (Last Updated March 26, 2020).
Further free resources can be found here.
Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.
On March 20, 2020, the Ontario government made an order under section 7.1 of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act to suspend limitation periods and procedural time periods. The suspension is retroactive to March 16, 2020.
The suspension is a response to the recent declaration of emergency in Ontario due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which caused the courts and administrative tribunals to close their doors. All hearings will be rescheduled and timelines for all types of proceedings are suspended for the duration of the emergency, subject to the discretion of the court, tribunal or other decision-makers responsible for the proceeding.
What Does This Mean for our Case?
What does this mean if you’re currently involved in a proceeding? It means that if your opposing party fails to follow the timelines, there will be no consequence. This will inevitably cause significant delays in many cases. If both parties are willing to move the matter forward, courts and tribunals are making efforts to hear matters virtually, over the phone or in writing.
Parties may decide to use the recent order to their advantage by further stalling matters – in other cases, the financial backlash from the pandemic may incite parties to settle more quickly and put an end to their proceeding.
While we know litigation can be a most effective tool in certain situations, we anticipate the current court and tribunal status may motivate parties to figure out a resolution outside the formal process. We have been approached by various mediators experienced with online dispute resolution and hope the current environment will finally push such innovative approaches forward as a legitimate option, arming parties with tech and convenience to solve their dispute.
Status of Courts and Workplace Tribunals
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Small Claims Court
Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”)
Ontario Court of Appeal
If you have any questions about these recent changes, get in touch to book a consult.
FAQs for Employers – Frequently asked questions by employers needing more information on the impact, rules and best practices for addressing the global coronavirus outbreak. (Last Updated March 23, 2020).
Further free resources can be found here.
Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.
On Thursday, March 19, 2020, the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 186, Employment Standards Amendment Act (Infectious Disease Emergencies), 2020 (“the Bill”).
The Bill amends the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA) adding new job protection for employees affected by COVID-19. This job protection is retroactive to January 25, 2020.
What is the Leave and Do I Still Have to Pay My Employees?
The new leave allows eligible employees to not come to work, and keep their job, in the circumstances set out below.
Employees who are not at work because they are using this leave provision do not have to be paid. In many cases, they will be entitled to EI. Employees will remain entitled to their benefits while off under this leave.
If an employer terminated or laid off an employee who had asserted a right to this leave, the employer would be violating the ESA which protects an employee’s job in these circumstances.
How Long Does the Job Protection Last?
The right of the employee to not come to work, and be on this leave, lasts for as long as the declared state of emergency (under section 7.0.1 of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act) lasts.
Who Does the Leave Apply To?
Below you will see a long list describing who exactly is entitled to take this leave. The short version is that when there is a declared state of emergency, as there is now in Ontario, pretty much anyone who cannot come to work for some reason related to that state of emergency (self-quarantined as directed, taking care of someone who is sick, taking care of kids because daycares are closed etc) is entitled to the leave.
The amendments entitle eligible employees to a leave of absence without pay for the following reasons:
What Proof Does My Employee Need to Assert this Leave Entitlement?
An employer may require an employee who takes this leave to provide evidence reasonable in the circumstances and at a time that is reasonable in the circumstances to substantiate their entitlement to the leave. An employer cannot require an employee to provide a certificate from a qualified health practitioner (doctor, nurse etc.) as evidence.
What this reasonable evidence might look like is unknown, but it’s pretty safe to say that any employee who asserts an entitlement to this leave will get it. Right now we know that there is a state of emergency, we know that people are being told to stay home, to self-quarantine etc, that schools and daycares are closed and that the parents need to look after their children. Likely requiring an employee to provide any evidence under current circumstances would be unreasonable.
Can I Make My Employees Take this Leave?
Generally, your employee will need to meet the above criteria to take advantage of this leave and it will be up to the employee whether they want to go on this leave or not. Employers can, however, direct an employee not to attend work due to a concern about the spread of the infectious disease, in which case the employee may be placed on unpaid leave.
Can I Terminate or Lay Off Employees on this Leave?
If your employee is unable to attend work for one of the prescribed reasons – they are sick, in quarantine, stuck in another country, taking care of kids while schools are closed etc. – then terminating their employment or laying them off would be a violation of the ESA.
Employees on this leave will be entitled to return to their jobs at the end of the leave. Once they are no longer entitled to the leave (and the job protection provided by the leave), they may be terminated or laid off, however, we encourage you to get legal advice prior to issuing a layoff or a termination, particularly where it intersects with an ESA leave.
Please visit our Resources page for further updates and information on the impact, rules and best practices for addressing the global coronavirus outbreak in your workplace.
FAQs for Employers – Frequently asked questions by employers needing more information on the impact, rules and best practices for addressing the global coronavirus outbreak. (Last Updated March 18, 2020).
Further free resources can be found here.
Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.
There are only a handful of essential services that are now requiring people to come in these days, with social distancing now being the norm in the midst of this COVID-19 outbreak (thank you to all the health care workers out there!!). While the trend has certainly been growing in recent years, working remotely is still fairly unusual.
How to Remote
How is your workplace handling the transition from in-person to remote? We’ve blogged about remote working in the past and you can read our myriad of tips and tricks on our blog:
We are also offering a template Remote Worker Policy, on our resources page as part of our COVID-19 response materials.
There are concerns about the increased burden of connectivity due to working from home breaking the internet but in times like these, we aren’t left with many choices.
Remote Workplace Culture
Working from home is not only about the tech (that’s the easy part!).
Building and nurturing a remote workplace culture is about connecting with each other, continuing to build a strong team and making sure people feel invested in the company’s mission. This is especially so now in the middle of a pandemic – many people find work to be a social anchor in their life.
You can replicate so much of that with video chats, telephone calls and message boards like Slack or Google Chat, but it does require a deliberate and thoughtful approach to how to modify workflow and communications.
The biggest obstacle we are seeing is the old-school generation that wonders how you can trust people to actually work from home. Here’s our pro tip: get over it!!!! People are far more likely to rise to the occasion, are probably more effective being closer to home and family in this bananas moment, and frankly, there are many tech tools that are more effective to monitor employees than your draconian managers, if you really need to.
Breathing over people’s shoulders in person really isn’t what motivates people to work.
We have always been virtual at SpringLaw. Our team is, and always has been, scattered across Ontario. We have a number of deliberate social anchors in our team’s workflow and our regular video chats keep us connected, even if we only see each other in person 4 times a year. This is a team effort and part of both group and 1:1 discussions to check in on what people need to be happy and productive at work.
Get in touch if you have questions about how to solidify and foster company culture online and to ensure that your team can remain as productive and effective as possible during this period of social distancing.
