Valentine’s Day has us thinking about romance. In the mind of an employment lawyer, the leap from romance to harassment is a short one, and so that is what our post is about today. Harassment is not a new topic for us. You can read our past posts on sexual harassment, employer obligations regarding
The Cost of Forcing an Employee to Retire
The Notice periods are trending upwards. One reason for this is that people are not necessarily retiring at 65 anymore, leading employers to struggle with how to exit the older employee for either declining performance reasons (real or perceived) or to simply make room for new talent.
As an example of the high-risk employers face
All About Commissions
Employment arrangements with different kinds of compensation are common and can present a lot of questions when it comes to a termination. In this post, we will look at how the law treats commissions.
Notice Pay
Readers of our blog will know by now that when an employee is terminated without cause they are entitled
Top 5 Employment Law Cases of 2018
By: Hilary Page and Lisa Stam
2018 was a whirlwind of statutory changes in the employment law world, which has perhaps overshadowed the judicial developments that have taken place in courts. In today’s post, we turn to all things case law and give our picks for the top 5 employment law cases of 2018.
After a Key Employee Leaves
Further to our post last week about key employees leaving, employers may wonder about risks to their business and options for recourse if that key employee leaves and sets up a competing shop next door.
There are three main potential risks presented by a departing key employee:
- Misuse of employer confidential information
- Setting up
When Key Employees Leave
High turnover is a growing issue for companies. As I’ve written in the past, the Millennial generation are quick to jump ship for a better opportunity or when they feel the values of the company no longer match their own. Employers need to prepare themselves for the inevitable departures of key employees.
Considerations When
Tax Treatment of Wrongful Dismissal Awards
Taxes change how much money ends up in our pockets and this truism also applies to wrongful dismissal awards. The way settlement money is lawfully characterized can have a big impact on how much goes to taxes and how much an individual gets to keep. In this post we will summarize the basic tax treatment
Is my Employee’s Non-Compete Agreement Enforceable?
Are non-competes, non-solicitations and confidentiality agreements enforceable in Canada? Aside from termination provisions, restrictive covenants are probably the clauses that give us employment lawyers the most to think about. A restrictive covenant is a contractual clause, typically in an employment agreement, that seeks to limit a former employee’s ability to solicit the employer’s clients and/or
Huge Moral Damages Award
Wal-Mart Canada has been hit with the largest award for moral damages in a Canadian employment case ever. In December, the Ontario Superior Court awarded punitive and moral damages of $750,000 to former Wal-Mart Canada employee Gail Galea. Read the full decision here (nearly 100 pages).
Ms. Galea was a senior management employee, hired by
Post-Termination Bonus Entitlement
Bonus entitlement is always a juicy topic. In September the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released a decision that shed some light on the issue of how entitlement to a bonus will be treated where an employer has no formal bonus policy, but a consistent past