Another large fashion retailer has fallen out of style with consumers, closing its doors for good across Canada. Last Sunday, Bradley Sell, the Chief Financial Officer of the Canadian subsidiary Forever XXI ULC (“Forever 21 Canada”), announced that all 44 of its Canadian stores would be closing. Sell cited economic viability as the primary
What Happens to Vacation When an Employee is on a Leave?
Employers often have questions about what to do with vacation when an employee is on a leave. Do they still earn vacation time? Do they still get vacation pay even if they aren’t getting paid? Vacation is one of the trickiest employment standards, but we will shed some light into its dark corners in this
All About Overtime
Our clients ask a lot of questions about overtime. Despite many workplaces that are trying hard to keep work hours reasonable and limit them to 40 hours per week, in busy workplaces, overtime is very often inevitable – at least once in awhile.
There is a lot to know about overtime, more than we can
Canada Labour Code Amendments Coming into Force
Calling all federal sector employers! Significant amendments to the Canada Labour Code come into force on September 1, 2019. That’s this coming Sunday.
Does this apply to you?
Employers are often confused by the various workplace laws and requirements. It’s tricky to know which apply and not every law applies to every workplace.
In Canada,
Accommodating Addictions
A labour arbitration decision out of Nova Scotia has got us thinking about what will qualify as addiction and justify accommodation in the work setting. In Unifor, Local 2215 v IMP Group Ltd (Aerospace Division) (AB Grievance), [2019] NSLAA No 4, Arbitrator Richardson determined that an employee’s on the job masturbation was not justified
Employment Law Issues for Chiropractors and Physiotherapists
As our population becomes more technology dependent and urbanized, we are increasingly adopting more sedentary lifestyles than our ancestors. One of the consequences of using our bodies less and our brains more is a host of negative health outcomes, including musculoskeletal issues from being hunched over screens for most of our waking lives.
Thankfully,
New Contracts for Current Employees
While we like to help businesses set up their employment relationships from day one, more often than not we come in to help a little later. In many typical workplaces, some employees have written contracts or offer letters, of varying levels of quality, and some don’t have any sort of written contract at all.
Why
Requiring Agility – How Much Can an Employer Change Job Duties?
At SpringLaw we work with a lot of tech companies and start-ups who are all about agility. These employers often include language in their contracts that speaks to being flexible with duties and rolling with the punches as the company scales. How flexible can employers expect their employees to be when it comes to having
Uber heading to the Supreme Court
The fate of the gig economy in Canada is in the hands of the Supreme Court. The saga of David Heller and Uber has been in the news for several months and raises important employment law questions relevant to those working in the gig economy.
History of the Case
This is a class action case
Employer Pays for Failing to Investigate Harassment
Readers of our blog will know that employers have a legal obligation to take workplace harassment seriously. These obligations are set out in Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and require that employers with more than five employees have a policy and procedure dealing with workplace violence and harassment. Employers are required to take