Let’s face it, we are all addicted to our phones. Some of us have jobs where our phones are required to be locked up in a locker for the day and we only have access to them on breaks. As a desk worker – who does not have to lock up her phone – I
The Duty to Mitigate and Why You Have to Look For a New Job
If you’ve been terminated from your job and spoken to an employment lawyer you’ve probably heard the word “mitigation” thrown around. In this post, we will talk about mitigation, what it is and why it matters to you and your case.
The Duty to Mitigate
The duty to mitigate is a legal concept that basically
Update on notice periods – it’s good news for employers
We wrote about the Dawe v. Equitable Life Insurance Company, 2018 ONSC 3130 back in January. Check out that post here. The Dawe case was notable because the judge in that case awarded Mr. Dawe a notice period of 30 months. The judge also made the comment that he would have awarded Mr. Dawe
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
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
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
Top 10 mistakes to avoid when hiring your first employee
For this week’s blog, we have gathered a list of the top 10 mistakes commonly made by freelancers and startups when hiring their first employee. Avoiding these pitfalls will help start you off on the right foot and avoid the hiring headaches!
We’ve also covered our Top 10 list in this month’s SpringForward Legal Updates
So You’ve Been Fired…Introducing our new e-book!
At SpringLaw one of our goals is to educate people about their legal rights in the workplace and upon termination, but this can be hard to do on a large scale. We want to reach many more people than those who we are able to serve individually. This is one reason why we are so
When employees revolt!
Microsoft employees recently made the news protesting the company’s $479 million contract with the U.S. Military to create mixed reality headsets using the HoloLens platform for use in war. Click on the link if you have no clue what we are talking about, but these are basically headsets that blend reality and virtual reality into
Cameras in the workplace: Privacy Law and inadvertently catching your employees in the act
At SpringLaw, we are interested in privacy, technology and how they intersect in the workplace. A recent arbitration decision brought all three together and gives us some insight into how decision makers might treat evidence collected via surreptitious surveillance.
In Vernon Professional Firefighter’s Association, IAFF, Local 1517 and The Corporation of the City of