Amongst the many changes to the Employment Standards Act introduced by Bill 148 is the expansion of Personal Emergency Leave. Previously only available to employees in workplaces with 50 or more employees, this 10 day leave is now available to everyone. The first two days of leave are paid. Effectively this amounts to two days
Artificial Intelligence in Recruiting
Stories about artificial intelligence (AI) stealing our jobs and robots going rogue have been in our collective consciousness for years. Elon Musk has also sounded the alarm bells, calling AI the “biggest risk we face as a civilization”. While he may know a few things I don’t, I can’t say that I
Religious Accommodation in the Workplace
Merry Christmas! Wait. What? Can we still say that in public? Why yes, we can, but not at the cost of excluding all other religions in the workplace.
For those that do not celebrate Christian holidays (and/or secular commercial holidays derived from Christian traditions), focusing only on Christian traditions can feel like exclusion.
It’s hard
18 Month Federal Parental Leave
The Liberal government has introduced changes to the federal parental leave benefits program. Details of the changes were announced early November and are set to come into force on December 3, 2017. This change is separate from the various Bill 148 changes coming down the pipe.
What’s New?
These are not additional monetary benefits, but
Can Employers Require High Heels in the Workplace?
Not for much longer… Last month, Ontario Liberal MPP Cristina Martins’ bill to ban mandatory high heels in the workplace sped through the legislature. The bill, titled the Putting Your Best Foot Forward Act, 2017 passed first reading on October 17, 2017, second reading on October 19, 2017, and has been referred to the standing
Post-Termination Bonus Entitlement
Bonus entitlement is always a juicy topic. In September the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released a decision that shed some light on the issue of how entitlement to a bonus will be treated where an employer has no formal bonus policy, but a consistent past
Reservist Leave Under the ESA
With Remembrance Day just around the corner, this is a brief blog post on the often overlooked “Reservist Leave” provision under the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”).
The Canadian Forces has approximately 21,000 reservist members and these part-time military positions allow those who hold them to work regular jobs and live as civilians. There
Criminal Records and Employment Law
At SpringLaw we get a lot of questions from both employers and employees about the intersection of the criminal law and the employment relationship. Unfortunately it’s easier, and likely more common, than you might think to get somehow mixed up in a police database or wind up with a criminal record.
Many employers will require
Misrepresentation During the Hiring Process
Employer misrepresentations, such as overstating the benefits program, in an attempt to induce a candidate to take a job can have negative legal consequences.
Negligent Misrepresentations by the Employer
Occasionally, employers might make representations about a job or benefits at the hiring stage that
Drug Policies
I blogged about pot in the workplace early this past August – see my post here. The legalization of marijuana made the news again, as Ontario announced its plans with respect to how the legal sale of marijuana will be practically rolled out.