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According to Statistics Canada, in 2023 20% of Canadian workers reported that they “usually” work from home. This is a significant jump from the pre-pandemic numbers, with only 7% of workers reporting that they usually worked from home in 2016.

Many employers now are trying to figure out how to move forward with working arrangements for their employees in the post-pandemic world- fully remote? Fully in-person? A hybrid of both? 

If your business has employees working remotely, whether all the time or some of the time, there are certain employment law issues you should consider as remote work becomes a more permanent and prevalent part of the employment landscape. Continue Reading Potential Employment Law Issues When Managing a Remote or Hybrid Workforce 

Accommodating employees with disabilities and medical issues is an integral part of creating an inclusive and equitable workplace. But what should an employer do if they receive a request for accommodation that does not provide enough information? How can we balance an employee’s right to privacy with an employer’s need for sufficient information to assess an accommodation request?Continue Reading Navigating Disability Accommodation Requests: Balancing Privacy and Information

If you’ve ever explored SpringLaw’s Teams’ Bios, it’s no secret that we are huge pet lovers over here! And, being a virtual law firm, we are lucky enough to work with our furry friends daily. For workplaces that are in-office or hybrid, we have seen various workplaces try to replicate this joy by introducing pet-friendly policies to allow employees to bring their pets to work. For animal lovers, the benefits of bringing your pet to work days may be obvious including improved morale, reduced stress, and even increased productivity. However, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies for all employees and if you’re thinking about rolling out a Pet Policy at your workplace, there are some very important legal factors to consider before doing so.  Continue Reading Bring your Pet-to-Work Policies – The Do’s, the Don’ts, and the Cautionary Notes 

If you’re an employer or HR representative well-acquainted with the realm of employment law blogs, you’ve undoubtedly encountered a myriad of cautionary tales about the perils of contracting errors.  The blogs about this topic are countless – and for good reason! The significance of getting contracts right cannot be overstated, as a single mistake could potentially lead to substantial liabilities for your organization. An omitted phrase or a misused word within a termination clause could be the deciding factor between an 8-week statutory notice obligation and a hefty 24-month damages award.Continue Reading Don’t Lose Your Enforceable Termination Clause to the Substratum Doctrine

Common Law Notice 

Upon termination of employment, if an employee’s contractual entitlements are not nailed down in an up-to-date and enforceable employment contract, the employee is likely entitled to common law reasonable notice (or pay in lieu of notice) of termination. Even if an employee’s entitlements are set out in an employment contract, it is common these days for employees, on the advice of employment law counsel, to claim that some of the contract’s termination-related provisions are not Waksdale-proof, and are therefore unenforceable. (We discuss how employers can make their contracts Waksdale-proof in this blog, and best practices for rolling out updated contracts in this blog). Under both scenarios, any path to resolution will start with an assessment of the common law notice period.  

Continue Reading Employers Can Create Win-Win Scenarios by Facilitating Re-employment for Ex-Employees

Ah, reference letters, those elusive pieces of paper that can make or break a job seeker’s dreams. But here’s the deal: employers are not an employee’s personal fan club. They don’t have an obligation to shower employees with praise in the form of reference letters. Before employers start feeling like kings on a throne, let’s explore the legal and strategic considerations surrounding reference letters and how they can impact an employer’s business.Continue Reading Do Employers Have to Provide Reference Letters? The Legal Lowdown

This is the second entry in our blog that focuses on the topic of labour law. In case you missed it, the first entry provided a primer on managing a unionized workplace and you can find it here.

In this blog, we provide some practical tips and tricks for unionized employers to navigate the grievance process.

Conflicts in a unionized workplace are almost always addressed through the grievance process. What constitutes a grievance is typically defined by the collective agreement. A grievance is typically defined as any dispute, difference or complaint regarding the application, interpretation or alleged violation of the collective agreement. The parties to the grievance, that is the parties who are entitled to file and respond to a grievance are usually also outlined by the collective agreement. Beyond defining a grievance, the collective agreement will typically also outline the grievance process.Continue Reading Addressing Conflicts in Unionized Workplace: The Grievance Process