Trans rights have been in the news a lot lately. During his eventful tenure, President Trump has eroded existing protections for transgender individuals in the United States. This winter he removed protections for transgender students in public schools that allowed them to use the bathroom of their gender expression, and not their physical sex. At
PHIPA Fines in the Workplace
This spring the largest penalty to date was issued under Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (“PHIPA”). A social work student was convicted of accessing personal health information without authorization, and ordered pay a $20,000 fine and a $5,000 victim fine surcharge after pleading guilty to
Pot in the Workplace
Marijuana has been legal for medical use since 1999. As you undoubtedly know, the Trudeau government has tabled legislation that would expand legal use to the recreational sphere. Employers need to be prepared for how the potential legalization of recreational marijuana will impact the
Bill 148 Fair Workplaces Changes: Unionized Workplaces
Over the last several weeks I’ve laid out some of the changes that will affect workplaces governed by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). In this post I’ll touch on how Bill 148 proposes to change the legislation that governs the business of unions, the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA). Like the proposed changes to
Bill 148 Fair Workplaces Changes: Scheduling, Leaves and Vacation
This is the third post in my series about the proposed Bill 148 legislative changes. In this post I discuss changes related to scheduling, leaves and vacations.
Under the proposed changes employees will have the right to increased workplace flexibility and increased leave entitlements. Let’s take a
Bill 148 Fair Workplaces Changes: Wages
Last week I posted about Bill 148. In this post I will discuss some specifics of the proposed changes related to pay. The Bill proposes several changes that will affect how much employees get paid.
Minimum Wage
Perhaps the most wide sweeping change will be the
Introduction and Economic Viability of Bill 148
I posted in May about upcoming reforms to Ontario’s workplace laws and you’ve likely heard other rumblings in the employment and HR world about Bill 148, known as the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017. Early in June the first reading of the
Employee Engagement in the Modern Workplace
I regularly speak on the issues of employment and human rights law, but it turns out that lawyers really do end up with a warped view of the world.
Yesterday I spoke on a panel of HR and people-management thought leaders: David D’Souza, Anna Petosa
Ontario Employment Law Reform on Horizon
The Ontario government has been reviewing employment laws and labour standards in Ontario, the first such major review since the mid-1990s. A package of reforms is expected to be released next week. “Changing Workplaces” has been a two-year review, headed by outside experts Michael
Getting Sued by an Ex-Employee
What is an employer to do when served with a Statement of Claim? Here are the most common questions we get:
- Is a response mandatory or can we ignore the claim?
- How do we get rid of this ridiculous claim?
- How much is this going to cost?
Is a Response Mandatory?
Yes, an employer must