While there’s info that can help employers navigate employment issues DIY, there are still situations where you need an employment lawyer.
Continue Reading Time to Call in the Pros: When Do You Need an Employment Lawyer?
Softer Landings Save Time, Effort and Legal Fees for Employers and Employees
Mapping out the termination process and employee entitlements in advance will reduce the sting of terminations for both sides.
Continue Reading Softer Landings Save Time, Effort and Legal Fees for Employers and Employees
Free Webinar: Complex Employee Statuses
Join SpringLaw’s Tiffany Thomas and Evaleen Hellinga as they discuss employee accommodations and how long an employer must accommodate an employee before considering termination.
Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Time: 10:30-11:00 am EST
Register today: Click here!
An Employer’s Guide to Managing Employees with Progressive Discipline
If you’re an employer, you know that, whether you have 10 employees or 100, there is an art to managing your workforce and a well-oiled human resource process is necessary for a well-run business. You invest a lot of time and money into your employees and, understandably, expect attendance, productivity, and proper work conduct in return that will benefit your business as a whole.
If you have employees who aren’t meeting the expectations of their role, it’s important not to have a knee-jerk reaction. Instead, progressive discipline gives both the employer and employee the opportunity to get on the same page and provides the employee with a roadmap for improvement.
Continue Reading An Employer’s Guide to Managing Employees with Progressive Discipline
Don’t Leave it to Luck: Update Employment Contracts Following Substantial Changes to the Job
With St. Patrick’s Day having just passed, many of us start to bank on luck at this time of the year. While luck might get you to the end of the rainbow on some things, we wouldn’t recommend that you lean on luck when it comes to non-existent, outdated or incomplete employment contracts.
The Consequences of Leaving it up to Luck
First, in case you’re new here or need a quick refresher, employment contracts are often recommended by lawyers and adopted by employers to bring a level of certainty to the employment relationship. Employment contracts can achieve a variety of things but generally, they set out the responsibilities and expectations of the employee and employer. If the employment relationship is bound by provincial employment standards legislation (it usually is), then the contract has to, at the very least, uphold the minimum standards of the applicable legislation.
If your employment contract runs afoul of the applicable employment standards legislation by failing to uphold the minimum standards as required by the law, your contract could be deemed unenforceable. Contracts could also be found to be unenforceable if they fail to comply with the principles of contract law.
Update on COVID-19 Layoff Provisions
This past Monday marked the three-year anniversary of the date the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Since that fateful day in 2020, a lot has changed. Though there remain areas where transmission rates are still high, increased vaccination rates, higher immunity, and public health measures have helped curtail the spread of the virus and significantly decreased the rate of new infections in Canada.
As a result, many provinces and territories are revoking laws that were amended or implemented as a result of the virus. For example, about a month ago, Alberta repealed the COVID-19 layoff provisions in its Employment Standards Code (the “ESC”). This followed a trend we saw with the federal government as well as many other provinces such as Ontario.
Waksdale Reviews Spark Joy
A new year often means some level of house-cleaning by employers, including the updating of core workplace documents. SpringLaw has seen a spike in this work because many employers understand, now more than ever, the need to have their employment contracts reviewed, with a particular focus on termination provisions. This review should include any ancillary policies, Codes of Conduct, or plan documents referencing when and under what circumstances an immediate termination for cause can occur. We refer to this as a ‘Waksdale review’ because it is driven by the court’s reasoning in Waksdale v. Swegon North America. For legal nerds, our prior blog details why a Waksdale review is necessary.
Free webinar: Termination Provisions 101
Join SpringLaw’s Lisa Stam and Emily Siu for our first webinar of 2023 as we walk you through termination provisions in employment contracts to ensure your business is well-equipped for 2023.
We’ll cover:
- why termination provisions are such a core business issue
- the legal headaches & costs of poorly drafted or outdated termination provisions
- how to make sure your termination provisions are enforceable
Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Time: 10:30-11:00 am EST
Register today: Click here!
Selling, Closing, or Buying a Business? Consider Your Employment Law Liabilities! (Part II)
Buying a Business
This post will explore some of the employment law issues that should be considered if you’re purchasing a business. Employment law-related factors to review when selling or closing your business were covered in Part I.
This post focuses on businesses with non-unionized workforces. Unionized workplaces have their own distinct issues that must be addressed when purchasing a business and a lawyer should be consulted regarding those as well.
Strong entrepreneurial spirits truly are critical components of any healthy economy. Many people dream of being their own boss – directing the growth of a company and taking an active role in their own future prosperity while providing a product or service that they are passionate about. Purchasing a business with an established business model and customer base can be a great way to give yourself a head start on these goals, but it’s essential to consider all of your possible risks and liabilities when doing so. Completing a fulsome review of your potential employment law risks as part of your due diligence is the best first step to protecting your investment. You can’t know what other actions will be helpful without taking this initial step.
Boomerang Employees Part 2 – The Employment Law Implications of Rehiring a Past Employee
In our recent blog, we addressed boomerang employees and, specifically, the HR issues surrounding them. We know you’ve been eagerly awaiting part two where we promised to address the employment law implications of rehiring a past employee, so here we go! Below we will do a deep dive into the various legal issues that may arise when hiring boomerang employees.