Employment Law

Subscribe to Employment Law

In workplace safety, adherence to the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) is paramount. Welcome to the third blog in our OHSA series. Discover how previous regulatory convictions impact sentencing for new OHSA violations. Read our previous blogs here and here.

Convictions for violations of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) frequently result in significant fines for both corporate entities and individuals. Furthermore, individual defendants may face incarceration if the breaches in question involve significant aggravating factors.Continue Reading How do prior regulatory convictions affect sentencing outcomes for new OHSA violations?

For most employers we consult with, preparing and distributing employee handbooks seems like just one obvious step in setting up or maintaining a healthy workplace.

While employee handbooks can be a great tool to help organize the do’s and don’ts of the workplace along with important (and sometimes legally required) employer policies, you may not be aware of some of the potential problems lurking in your handbook.Continue Reading The Perks and Pitfalls of Employee Handbooks 

Our clients ask us this all the time. They’ve usually already thought about it for weeks/months/years, but never know if and when to do it. I’ve yet to meet an employer who loves terminating employees – it’s hard, painful, disruptive and most feel bad about it overall.Continue Reading Aggravating and Mitigating Sentencing Factors in OHSA Convictions

Our clients ask us this all the time. They’ve usually already thought about it for weeks/months/years, but never know if and when to do it. I’ve yet to meet an employer who loves terminating employees – it’s hard, painful, disruptive and most feel bad about it overall.Continue Reading When is it Time to Fire an Employee

Defenses to OHSA Charges

Introduction to Due Diligence 

Have you ever wondered what happens if your workplace faces charges under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)or other similar legislation?

What steps should you take, and what defences are available to you? Navigating these charges can be complex, but understanding the due diligence defence is crucial.Continue Reading OHSA Series: Due Diligence Primer

Gen AI is here. This may feel very abstract and irrelevant to many of our employees but may be a significant source of stress and worry for others.

This is more than another department change that employees need to evolve with. In the same way that computers have transformed how we all do our jobs in less than a generation, AI is quickly taking us to that next level of processing information using everything computers have already brought us.Continue Reading Rolling out Gen AI in the Workplace

In the rapidly evolving landscape of tech, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is becoming a central player, especially in sectors like customer service, content creation, and human resources.

While GenAI offers groundbreaking efficiencies and capabilities (and excites the sci-fi nerds in all of us), it also poses unique challenges, particularly when it comes to biased outputs. This issue, often summarized by the old adage “garbage in, garbage out,” reflects the reality that AI systems can only be as unbiased as the data they are trained on.Continue Reading The Perils of Bias in Workplace GenAI

In the world of employment law, terminations tend to steal the spotlight. But what about when the employee is the one ending the employment relationship?

Here is an overview of the law of resignation, and what employers need to know when they receive an employee’s “two weeks’ notice”. Continue Reading Employee Resignations: The Basics

In many industries right now, businesses are fighting not just for clients, customers, and market share but to attract and retain good talent.

If you’ve managed to recruit an employee from a competitor – congrats! But before you put together the onboarding package and schedule the welcome lunch, here are a few steps to take to avoid any potential legal headaches: Continue Reading What to know before you hire from a competitor?