Employment Standards

Subscribe to Employment Standards via RSS
Risks of Not Firing Properly
Photo by Dustin Tramel on Unsplash

Employers often wonder what the consequences might be if they don’t do everything their lawyer tells them to or, if they don’t get a lawyer at all and just “wing it” when hiring, firing, or dealing with workplace issues like harassment complaints or requests for accommodation. 

Of course, it depends. Not every employee is going to be litigious, but a fair number are. It’s generally pretty easy for employees to get legal consultations and a lawyer to take their “wrongful dismissals” on contingency. The barrier to entry can be quite low.  

So, what can an employer expect? In today’s post, we will go through the various types of employer-worst-case-scenario employment law damages.

Continue Reading Employment Law Damages: The Risk of Not Firing Properly

executive termination package entitlements
Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

Unfortunately, lots of terminations are coming across our desks these days. While most employers understand that they need to provide notice of termination, many employees have a variety of different types of compensation which may or may not continue during the notice period. As with many things in law, it depends! 

Let’s go over some of the common aspects of executive termination packages.

A Primer on Notice

It all starts with notice! Unless an employee is being terminated for cause, they are entitled to notice of termination. “For cause” or “with cause” terminations are rare, so in most cases and absent egregious employee behaviour, employers will owe employees notice.

Continue Reading Termination Entitlements: Benefits, Bonuses and Commissions

Considerations for employers recalling employees to work
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Employers are encountering issues as they ask their employees to come back to work. We will take a look at some of these in today’s blog. 

A Recap 

Many employees were placed on layoffs in March 2020, when the shutdowns occurred. In Ontario, these layoffs were then converted into deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leaves. While statutory layoff timelines normally restrict the amount of time an employee can be on a layoff before being considered terminated, in Ontario the Infectious Disease Emergencies Leave amendments to the Employment Standards Act changed this. Ontario employees can now be involuntarily off work (laid off) until January 2, 2020, without having a  termination triggered. 

A layoff does not end the employment relationship. It’s just a temporary pause, which anticipates that the employer will bring the employee back to work or recall them. 
Continue Reading Recalling Employees to Work: Considerations for Employers

On July 30, 2020, we sent out a note to our clients and readers alerting you all that because the state of emergency in Ontario ended on July 24, 2020, the deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leaves (“IDEL”) would be ending on September 4, 2020. On September 3, 2020, the Ontario government made another change. The deemed IDEL has now been extended until January 2, 2021. You can check out the Ontario government’s news release and get further details in the Ministry of Labour’s Guide.

So, the clock has been reset once again.

Does This Apply to Me?
Continue Reading ONCE AGAIN Attention Employers with Employees on the IDEL! Deemed IDEL Now Extended to January 2, 2021!

workplace law advice for employers
Photo by CQF-Avocat from Pexels

In these challenging times, in the midst of the pandemic, as workplaces re-open, pivot and change, we see the importance and immense value of having strategic employment and workplace law advice. Just a small allocation of thought space and time to being proactive could have changed the outcome of so many situations. We see it now in our firm in many ways. 

Having run a small business for over a decade, I can appreciate that employers are often triaging the urgent demand of finding solutions to client’s needs. Rarely did I have the time or opportunity to “smell the roses” let alone try to proactively anticipate the workplace law needs of my growing organization. However, I now see the critical importance of taking a proactive approach.
Continue Reading Workplace Law: It Pays To Be Proactive

Many restrictive convenants in agreements unenforceable
Image by Edar from Pixabay

We get a lot of questions from employers and employees about restrictive covenants. Many employment contracts include a restrictive covenant – a contractual clause that seeks to limit an employee’s ability to solicit the employer’s clients and/or employees and/or to compete for those same clients in the same geographical area once the employee leaves the employer.

Courts generally find restrictive covenants in employment agreements unenforceable, unless they are reasonable between the parties and not adverse to the public interest. Typically, if a restrictive covenant is ambiguous with regards to time, activity or geography, it will not be enforceable. Let’s take a look at non-solicit agreements.
Continue Reading Non-Solicit Provisions in Employment Contracts – What You Need to Know

enforceability of specific termination provisions
Image by Edar from Pixabay

This Ontario Court of Appeal decision has been the talk of the town on all the Ontario employment law blogs and while we don’t like to be followers, we also wanted to make sure our readers did not miss this important decision. In Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc. the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled on the enforceability of specific termination provisions in an employment contract, finding the “without cause” termination provision enforceable because of a flaw in the “with cause” provision. 

Courts frequently come up with new ways of invalidating employer drafted termination provisions that would restrict an employee’s entitlement to notice. The enforceability of termination provisions is what lots of employment cases are about. A properly drafted termination provision in an employment contract can significantly limit an employee’s entitlement to notice of termination. For example, a long service employee terminated “without cause” could be entitled to as little as 8 weeks or as much as 2 years of notice depending on the contract. 
Continue Reading Employers Get Out Your Contracts: An Important Ruling on Termination Provisions

We blogged about David Heller and his fight against Uber last May when leave to the Supreme Court of Canada was granted. You can catch up on the history and read that post here. If you’re a true nerd you can also watch footage of the arguments made in the Supreme Court here!  The Supreme Court’s decision has now been released.

A Brief History

Heller, a driver for UberEats, brought a class action suit against Uber in 2017 alleging that he was an employee under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”). Uber, in response to this suit, said that Heller could not sue in Ontario because of the arbitration clause in his contract with Uber. 

The Arbitration Clause

Putting aside the issue of whether Uber drivers are employees – entitled to things like public holiday pay, vacation pay, notice of termination etc. under the ESA – the suit became about the correct forum. Could Heller bring Uber to court in Ontario? Or did the arbitration clause in the contract with Uber apply?
Continue Reading UberEats Driver Fight Stays in Canada

Terminating Employees for Inappropriate Behaviour
Photo by mana5280 on Unsplash

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd and in the midst of protests and heightened awareness of anti-black racism across the world, two prominent Canadians have been “cancelled.”

Earlier this month Sasha Exeter, lifestyle blogger and influencer, called out Jessica Mulroney for “textbook white privilege.” Exeter explained, calling out Mulroney by name, that Mulroney took offence to her call to action for people with large public followings to use their platforms to address racial inequality and then proceeded to threaten Exeter and her brand.  Soon after Mulroney’s reality show, “I Do, Redo” had been cancelled by CTV, and Cityline, Good Morning America, Hudson’s Bay and apparently Meghan Markle, had all cut their ties with the star.Continue Reading Cancel Culture at Work: Terminating Employees for Inappropriate Behaviour

new Infectious Disease Emergency Leave regulationAs many of our readers and clients know, we have been cautioning that the legality of certain layoffs and job changes necessitated by COVID-19 is uncertain. Generally, layoffs are only legal if the employment contract gives the employer the right to layoff, and many other job changes, such as reductions in hours or pay, raise the risk of constructive dismissal. We anticipated that at some point the Ontario government may weigh in and change the law – on Friday they did.  
Continue Reading Big Changes for COVID-19 Layoffs in Ontario: New O. Reg 228/20 Infectious Disease Emergency Leave Curtails Constructive Dismissal Claims