A Guide for Employers during COVID-19
This Guide sets out the key employment law issues to consider, as well as the government’s financial relief options to explore to get through this deep economic crisis. (Last Updated April 1, 2021)
Further free resources can be found here.
Should you need legal advice on how to manage
SpringLaw is 4!!!! To celebrate our 4-year anniversary, thank our clients and welcome non-client businesses who are looking for a new way to receive legal services, we are pleased to offer The 444 Toolkit.
The 444 Toolkit is a collection of our most highly sought-after resources our clients ask for every day:
If you are a small business owner, looking to update your core legal docs and needing some guidance to navigate this ongoing rollercoaster of the pandemic, this workplace law toolkit is for you!
THIS IS A DEEPLY DISCOUNTED, TIME-LIMITED OFFER!
Continue Reading The 444 Employment Law Toolkit
With the vaccine becoming more widely available, questions about vaccine passports, time off to get the vaccine and whether employers can require employees to get the vaccine are becoming more relevant.
Paid Vaccination Leave in Saskatchewan
Last week a new paid vaccine leave became law in Saskatchewan. This leave, which was made under Saskatchewan’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2020, allows workers to take PAID time off to get their vaccines. Saskatchewan is the first jurisdiction in Canada to implement this type of leave.
Continue Reading Vaccinating the Workforce
HR Professionals vs Employment Lawyers – Who Should Do What to Solve Your Workplace Issues?
Join us as SpringLaw’s Lisa Stam and guest Eric Appleyard, Director of Human Resource Business Advisory at ADP Canada, walk you through who can help with what in your workplace, best practices for HR and external Legal Counsel to
Since 2019, there have been five proposed class actions against insurance companies and banks for failure to pay proper vacation pay to employees, both past and present. The total amount claimed in the aggregate of these five actions is around $1.2 billion. Royal Bank of Canada is a named party in three of the five actions; in one, it is facing a proposed $800-million class-action lawsuit involving thousands of advisors. Bank of Montreal and Allstate Insurance are also named in these class actions. A significant aspect of the allegations against these employers revolves around the calculation of their employees’ vacation pay. The issue is that for many of these employees, the majority of their compensation is and was made up of commissions and bonuses. Their vacation pay, however, was and continues to be based solely on their much lower base salaries.
Continue Reading Vacation pay class actions a heads up for employers
A Guide for Employers during COVID-19
This Guide sets out the key employment law issues to consider, as well as the government’s financial relief options to explore to get through this deep economic crisis. (Last Updated February 24, 2021)
Further free resources can be found here.
Should you need legal advice on how to manage
A recent Supreme Court of Canada decision serves as a helpful reminder to workers and businesses about the importance of honesty in their contractual dealings. C.M. Callow Inc. v. Zollinger involved condo maintenance contracts. The plaintiff, C.M. Callow performed summer and winter maintenance for the defendant Zollinger, who managed maintenance contracts for several condos (referred to as Baycrest).
The Deception
Baycrest and Callow entered into a two-year winter maintenance contract in 2012. In the Spring of 2013, Baycrest decided they wanted to end the winter contract. The contract allowed for early termination, for any reason, by way of 10 days notice. They did not provide that notice until September of 2013, allowing Callow to act on his impression that the winter contract would be renewed all through the summer of 2013. Through the summer of 2013 Callow performed the summer maintenance contract and also did additional work for free, in the hopes and under the impression that the winter contract would be renewed.
Continue Reading Honesty – the Golden Rule for Contracts
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our economy. In many industries, it has made it more difficult to find work and also more difficult for businesses to afford termination packages when letting employees go. The relevance of these facts to how courts will determine what terminated employees are entitled to has, so far, been unclear.
Reasonable Notice
When an employment relationship is not governed by a written contract – with valid termination provisions – a terminated employee’s entitlements on termination without cause will be determined by the common law and what is called reasonable notice.
Continue Reading The Impact of the Pandemic on Termination Packages
SpringLaw’s Lisa Stam joined ADP’s Jeff Livingstone, host of the Insights@Work podcast for a conversation about romance in the workplace.
As Jeff explains, “When professional and personal lives co-mingle, it’s only natural that romantic work relationships happen. While merging romance and work might sound like an ideal situation, navigating office politics and HR policies present
Employers may brush off the importance of a Record of Employment (ROE) or even have their accountant handle all the details, but it is an important document in the realm of employment law. This document becomes significant when it comes to topics such as terminations, lay-offs, resignations, disability, illness, quarantine, a leave of absence and maternity or parental leaves. So here are the top 6 things that every employer should know when it comes to a Record of Employment.
Firstly, what is an ROE?
An ROE is a form that employers complete for employees who are receiving insurable earnings who have stopped working and are experiencing an interruption of earnings. This document is a requirement of the Employment Insurance Program. An ROE must be completed even if the employee is not applying for Employment Insurance Benefits.
Continue Reading Top 6 Things to Know Regarding ROEs