Join SpringLaw’s Lisa Stam and guest speaker Anna Malazhavaya, a tax lawyer and founder of Advotax Law, as they walk you through the intersection of employment and tax law for your mobile workforce.
Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Time: 10:30-11:00 am EST
Register today: Click here!
When the vast majority of the Canadian workforce suddenly transitioned to working from home in 2020, managers were concerned about employee productivity. Most employees believed remote work increased productivity, while managers believed the opposite. The debate continues. Candidly, I am on the “increased productivity” side of the debate: working remotely allows me to focus without interruption and bring my full energy to my work by avoiding a soul-sucking commute. However, managers’ concerns about productivity are not always misplaced. Employees who do not put in the hours required by their contract are engaging in time theft, which is typically cause for discipline and, in particularly egregious circumstances, termination for cause.
Continue Reading How to Manage Employee Productivity Issues and Time Theft
As a fully virtual firm since 2017, we are big remote working fans. We recognize that, as a result of the pandemic, most work environments have come to accept and adopt remote working With the recent public sector strike, remote work is once again a hot topic. This time however, the conversation has taken a new and interesting direction as the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) seeks to enshrine the right to remote work in new collective agreements for the hundreds of thousands of workers it represents.
PSAC announced early Monday morning that it had reached a tentative deal with the Federal Government on behalf of the more than 120,000 Treasury Board workers it represents. At the time of writing this blog, the strike continues for the 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) workers who are also represented by PSAC.
Continue Reading What’s Remote Work Got to Do With It? A New Era of Collective Bargaining
When it comes to employment law, there’s no shortage of information out there. From blogs to TikToks to YouTube videos, there’s a wealth of knowledge available at your fingertips. And let’s not forget about the government guides – they’re a great resource for staying up-to-date on the latest employment laws and regulations. While there’s a ton of information that can help employers navigate employment issues DIY, there are still situations where you really need an employment lawyer.
Let’s be real – running a business can be a real headache sometimes, especially when you throw in all the legal mumbo jumbo. That’s where employment lawyers come in – we’re the legal experts who can help you navigate the murky waters of employment law and protect your business.
Continue Reading Time to Call in the Pros: When Do You Need an Employment Lawyer?
Many HR professionals say the toughest part of their job is employee terminations. No surprise there, and it’s usually no day at the beach for the exiting employee either. Mapping out the termination process and employee entitlements in advance will reduce the sting of terminations for both sides.
It Pays to be Nitpicky!
Another reason to have all ducks in a row: courts have awarded additional damages for aspects of the manner of dismissal that may seem a little nitpicky. A few examples: an employer’s failure to provide a written termination letter, late statutory payments, miscalculations in statutory amounts, and inaccurate ROEs. Courts have also called employers out for failing to explain an employee’s rights in a termination letter. All the more reason for employers to tighten up their termination process and termination letter template.
Continue Reading Softer Landings Save Time, Effort and Legal Fees for Employers and Employees
So you’ve decided that you’d like to hire an employment/labour law firm. What about legal fees? You’ve seen the ads on TV and online where lawyers promise not to take a cut of anything until you win. Other lawyers’ services seem to cost an arm and a leg. How do you navigate the world of legal fees? This can be tricky, so below we’ve outlined some of the most common fee structures for employment lawyers.
Hourly Rate
This is one of the most popular fee structures used by employment lawyers. The lawyer charges an hourly rate for their time, and the client pays for the actual time spent working on the case. Basically, the lawyer will track every minute (or even every six minutes, to be exact) they spend on your case, and they’ll charge you for that time. That means if they spend 18 minutes on the phone with you, they’re gonna bill you for 0.3 hours.
Continue Reading Show Me the Money: Legal Fees Explained
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!
Fixed-term or temporary employment contracts can be a useful tool for short-term employment such as temporary replacements for employees on leave, co-op students or employees performing work funded by a time-limited grant. When drafted and executed correctly, employment ends at the end of the fixed-term contract and no further termination entitlements are owed.
However, when fixed-term contracts are misused, they can become very risky for employers. Below are four mistakes for employers to avoid when hiring on a fixed-term contract.
Continue Reading 4 Common Mistakes to Avoid with Fixed-Term Contracts
I launched SpringLaw on April 1, 2017, with the mission to be a fully virtual, tech-forward employment law firm in the cloud. Although this now feels like a thousand years ago, before a global pandemic introduced the world to the ease of online communications and business, our purpose remains to disrupt old-school law in order to provide an amazing client journey.
We continue to solve workplace law issues through leading-edge, tech-forward collaboration with our virtual-only team, located throughout Ontario. We have built a web of internal communications, frequent team video & chat touchpoints, online-first systems and our data conveyor belt which are all focused on making the client journey as effective, efficient and practical as possible.
Thank you to all of our amazing clients, our workplace law community, our allies and all the friends and family who have supported us along the way.
SpringLaw’s First 6 Years by the Numbers
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