Can I Afford Legal AdviceHow Can I Afford Legal Advice?

Many employers are facing rock hard choices right now: layoff on shaky legal ground or go bankrupt? Let some employees go, but how to afford termination pay? Offer more than ESA minimums to get a release or risk a claim down the road?

Since early March 2020, we’ve found ourselves regularly telling clients what the technical legal answers are, and then we quickly move to the COVID-19 business reality solution. This new world order is not going away anytime soon and I fully anticipate some new law coming out of this unique moment. Employers cannot afford payroll but employees cannot mitigate their job loss in this job market – so everyone is turning to the pandemic economic crisis as the reason for paying less termination pay or for demanding more of a package. Courts will have to somehow reconcile these competing interests, each of which is based on the same underlying issues caused by COVID-19.

Now is the moment for businesses to get creative, think about what the world will look like in a year, and to consider what people they need on board to get there. Most business owners we’re talking to have already been knee-deep in doing just that. Most business owners have typically already spent hours trying to reconfigure the numbers for a reset before they contact us. 

The Free Help

By the time we get the call, the typical client has already read through all the free info available:

But many businesses still need legal help for their snowflake issues.

The Self-Serve Option

In this hard cash crunch moment, employers are looking to more affordable options besides the traditional $400+ an hour legal advice. The quarantine has forced the business world to quickly move online and to get a lot more comfortable with online solutions, including legal solutions. 

Hearing the demand for quick solutions for savvy business owners who prefer the convenience and speed of accessing legal guides and templates online, we launched Pivot DIY in early April. We sell this offering for $450+HST, intentionally low and affordable for small businesses needing to rightsize their workplace asap. 

We see this as the way of the future – accessing legal help online, off-hours, at the user’s convenience. Business owners and entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to self-serve and DIY solutions, confident in their own ability to sort through the main stuff, and picking up the phone or sending an email to their lawyer for the more nuanced questions. 

The reality is most businesses have far more legal issues in common that not. If you can get at that broad common info at a very affordable price, you can use your business sense for much of the rest. For the truly unicorn snowflake issues, lawyers are awesome. But there are some great options to consider before the unicorns arrive.

Whether you have unicorns at your door or you want a new way of accessing DIY online legal services, we’re here to help.

resources for employers during COVID-19

Unchartered Workplace Waters

For many entrepreneurs and small businesses, the impact of COVID-19 has resulted in unprecedented losses in a short period of time.  It has been a time of incredible stress, uncertainty and countless questions about how you can stay afloat, best manage your team and, eventually, rebuild. 

At SpringLaw, we have been navigating these unchartered waters with our employer clients.  We know how small businesses have been struggling and how business owners are laying up at night wondering how they will see it through to the other side of this tremendous business disruption.

You Are Not Alone!

As an employer, you know you need to pivot and resize your business. You want to do best by your employees, your business model and your own employment.

You care deeply about your team and your “baby” – your business, along with your reputation and keeping a roof over your family’s head.  You want to be ethical and empathetic, but know you must also be pragmatic and that your decisions must be legally sound. 

You are likely thinking, among many other things:

  • Do I need to layoff or terminate my staff?  What’s the difference?  How do I do it?
  • What government relief is available to me and how do I best use it?
  • When and how can I recall my team?
  • OMG the paperwork!!!

You are not alone!  Many, many businesses are grappling with these tough decisions.  You know they need to be made, but you need a starting point, a roadmap and some guidance on how to navigate this challenging journey, while also managing a payroll cash crunch and a tightened budget.

Pivot DIY – A Budget-Friendly, Easily Accessible Solution for You!

To assist you through this unprecedented time, SpringLaw has launched a new business solution to help you survive and thrive – Pivot DIY.  This toolkit gives small business owners and entrepreneurs the strategies, how-to guides and templates to help you weather the impact of COVID-19 on your business and workforce.

This solutions toolkit has been crafted by experienced, licensed Canadian employment lawyers. Designed for this moment of business uncertainty, Pivot DIY is a user-friendly, easy to read, up to date resource relevant to today’s business crisis.

What’s Included?

Templates Written by Ontario Lawyers:

  • Termination Letter & Release
  • Layoff Notice
  • Recall Notice

Trusted How-To Guides and Resources:

  • How to pivot your workforce (and business) in the era of COVID-19
  • Guide to Termination Letters & Releases
  • Guide to Layoffs – Are they legal? Pros, cons, risks
  • Guide to Firing an Employee (includes Checklist & Script for Conducting Terminations & Layoffs)
  • Resources cheatsheet for you to give employees to help with their own pivots
  • Checklist of Government Resources for Benefits &  Funding Help
  • Access to our frequently updated videos & resources about small business in the COVID-19 era

Empowerment:

  • Take the direction of your business back into your hands
  • Pivot with the right number of people, explore the options for reducing hours or pay, accessing government relief & other temporary measures to survive
  • Get templates to work with to save you time
  • Deal with your team with dignity, fairness & with strategic vision
  • Position your business to move into the forever-changed economy focused on your core team & clarity of mission

You’ve Got This!

Whether you want to go fully DIY with your pivot or you want a cost-effective headstart before speaking to a lawyer, Pivot DIY is available to you right now for an affordable, set price.

Pivot DIY empowers you to take back the direction of your business by providing you with the tools (scripts, templates, guides, checklists, information etc) you need to resize and rebuild in the new 2020 business landscape. 

All this is available right now, at the budget-friendly, one-set price of $450+HST.  You can gain access to all the templates, guides and other resources now and get to work right away on your pivot.

Click here to learn more about Pivot DIY,  view our free COVID-19 resources, and immediately access your solutions toolkit.

Stay healthy, safe and well!

A Guide for Employers during COVID-19

This Guide for Employers During COVID-19 sets out the key employment law issues to consider, as well as the government’s financial relief options to explore to get through this deep economic crisis.  (Last Updated May 8, 2020).

Further free resources can be found here.

Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.

CERB COVID-19By now the CERB (the Canada Emergency Response Benefit) has entered the common parlance but questions about this benefit still abound. Employers and employees are still puzzling over some aspects of this benefit. We address some of the confusion in this post.  

Can I Get the CERB if I Quit?

We have come across several examples of people who would stand to make more money by not working and collecting the CERB than working and getting paid. Unlike EI, which is tied to your actual income, the CERB is the same for everyone, regardless of income level – it’s $500 a week for up to 16 weeks. This is making the CERB an option attractive to people like part-time workers or those making minimum wage who may work a full week for around the same amount of money. 

Employees CANNOT get the CERB if they voluntarily leave their job. 

In many instances, employees are refusing to work – even where work is available – because they feel that leaving their home and going to work is unsafe. These employees will not be eligible for the CERB. Similarly, employees who ask to be fired or laid off so that they can access the CERB would likely be seen as committing CERB fraud. 

Eligibility Even if Work is Still Available

Some employees may have to leave their jobs – or some self-employed people may need to stop working – for reasons related to COVID-19 even where work is still available. These people will generally be CERB eligible because they will not have voluntarily quit, but have been forced to quit or stop working because of COVID-19.

In Ontario, those who are on the Infectious Disease Emergencies Leave will generally be CERB eligible. This includes individuals taking care of their kids because of school and daycare closures, those in quarantine or who are sick with COVID-19, or those caring for a family member sick with COVID-19.

Being in quarantine in this context means being in quarantine for a legitimate reason, on the advice of public health. An individual who does not have a reason to be in quarantine – for example, they just don’t feel safe going out – would not be in quarantine for the purposes of the CERB or the Infectious Disease Emergencies Leave. A legitimate reason would be something like having returned from abroad or having been in contact with someone with COVID-19. 

Generally, in order to be eligible individuals must meet the following criteria:

  • Be residing in Canada
  • Be at least 15 years old 
  • Have stopped working because of COVID-19 
  • Have had an income of at least $5,000 in 2019, or in the 12 months prior to their application date
  • Be without income for at least 14 days in the initial period and expect to have no income thereafter

Moonlighting or Earning Money While on the CERB

Moonlighting – or doing other work for pay – while on the CERB is at this point not allowed. This means that individuals still earning some income will not be eligible. To be eligible an individual needs to have NO income for 14 days in the initial benefit period and expect to have NO income thereafter. 

This is a tough pill to swallow for many, like those who are self-employed and may still be able to earn some income but have lost the majority of their contracts, clients etc. We expect that this criterion may change. 

More Info on the CERB

The CERB application is now online and has been available since Monday, April 6, 2020. Once an individual applies, they can expect to receive benefits within 10 days. The benefits can be retroactive to March 15, 2020, so a first payment may cover several weeks. Individuals need to reapply every 4 weeks.  

The Government has an extensive Q&A about the CERB on their website. 

If you have questions about government benefits or how to scale your workforce in light of the COVID-19 crisis, get in touch for a consultation or check out our online resource for employers, PIVOT DIY.

What are the employer’s obligations to an employee when an employee is not working in the office? With so many employees now working from home, employers’ health and safety obligations need to be reexamined. 

The Occupational Health and Safety Act and Working From Home

In Ontario, section 3(1) the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”) states that it “does not apply to work performed by the owner or occupant or a servant of the owner or occupant to, in or about a private residence or the lands and appurtenances used in connection therewith.”

So, in regular people speak, this means that if your employee is working in their own home OHSA does not apply. 

In some sense this makes sense, but in other ways, it doesn’t. An employer cannot be expected to come into an employee’s home and evaluate risks, nor be expected to assume liability for the safety of their worker in an environment – the worker’s home – that they have no control over. 

Employers – even in offices where there may not be obvious health and safety issues like noxious substances or big machines – are generally required to make sure that exits are clear, that file boxes aren’t going to fall on anyone etc. These are the types of safety issues that could, presumably, also pose risks to workers who are in their own homes. 

Workplace Violence and Harassment

The application of the violence and harassment provisions of OHSA makes more sense in a home environment. Workers who work from home are still expected to work with their colleagues, clients etc. In many cases, these interactions will likely be similar to face to face interactions one may have in an office – just less the risk of inappropriate touching. Workers could still be bullied or harassed virtually or over the phone. This can happen just as easily around the watercooler as on the company Slack channel. 

Direction from Case Law

While direction from decision-makers is sparse, two decisions offer contradictory direction with respect to the application of OHSA to people working from home. 

The Workplace Safety Insurance Appeals Tribunal (the “WSIAT”) stated in Decision No 2249/16, 2016 ONWSIAT 2410 that the “OHSA does not apply to work performed by an owner in a private residence”. In this case, the WSIAT was required to determine whether modified work offered to an injured worker to do at home was reasonable and safe, in spite of the fact that the work would not be covered by OHSA because it would be completed at home. The WSIAT found that the fact that work would not be covered by OHSA did not mean it was not safe. 

This decision contrasts with an Ontario Labour Relations Board (the “OLRB”) decision Watkins v The Health and Safety Association for Government Services. This case involved allegations of workplace harassment and reprisal under OHSA by an employee who “worked remotely from his home office, but also travelled as part of his duties.” The OLRB allowed the complaint to proceed to a hearing. No non-application of OHSA argument was made. OHSA does apply to work done outside of a private residence, even if it is done outside of the office. For example, OSHA applies when an employee is travelling for work, attending conferences, working on a client site etc. Perhaps the fact that this worker travelled as part of his duties brought his complaint safely under OHSA.  

Takeaways

As it stands OHSA likely does not apply to work done at home. However, given the unprecedented number of employees now working from home, and the lack of clear jurisprudence, this could change.

Employers should consider how to ensure safe working conditions for their employees who are working at home. While employers obviously are not going to be doing home visits to make sure there are no cords to trip on or boxes about to fall on anyone’s head, they can do things like ensure that workers are being adequately supervised, even when working remotely. A clear and reasonable remote working policy can take an employer a long way. 

You can access SpringLaw’s complimentary Remote Worker Policy here. 

If you’d like to book a consult to talk about remote working issues in your workplace, get in touch.  

Answers to frequently asked questions from employers regarding COVID-19 – the impact, rules and best practices for addressing the global coronavirus outbreak in the workplace. (Last Updated April 1, 2020).

Further free resources can be found here.

Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.

I launched SpringLaw 3 years ago. It was on April Fool’s Day 2017 and a friend of mine questioned whether I should delay it by a day so that people would not mistake my launch of a virtual law firm as a joke. My assistant Sandi and I proceeded to launch aways, figuring we’d be in the clear by noon that day.

Fast forward to three years later: we are in a very different world. Even before the current virus pandemic, the ease and comfort of communicating and working through tech have moved forward at such a fast clip.

Over the last few weeks (yes, the virus has only been here for a few weeks!), the world has been forced to face remote working and to engage in the online economy. For those of us already there, it’s been no big deal, but it’s not a system you can just whip up overnight.

Here are my thoughts on the key ingredients to a successful online law firm.

How to Set Up a Virtual Law Firm

A good tech and video conferencing set-up makes remote work very similar to working in a bricks & mortar office. Let me repeat: very similar. Not inferior, not “almost as good”, not “until we can meet up after social distancing is over”.

I have always believed a tech-based virtual firm can be as good or better than a traditional in-person firm, as long as there is careful planning, intentional systems of accountability, both formal and informal communications systems, a true open-door policy when mentoring juniors, and a deliberate mapping out of tech that syncs up seamlessly together.

Connect People

We are currently a team of 8, in order of appearance: Hilary, Janice, Marnie, Jessica, Danielle, Deidre and Amanda. My team is by far the most valuable asset of SpringLaw. It remains my daily focus and priority and no law firm can succeed without constant attention to its people. My team inspires me daily, teaches me, brings great ideas to the table, and is the backbone of SpringLaw’s future.

We are on the google platform, have various chat rooms, daily video calls, a mandatory weekly all-team video call to talk through legal issues, quarterly in-person meetups for bonding and strategy talks, an annual overnight retreat, and daily telephone and in-document collaboration.

We’ve become giphy professionals (Sally Triangle being my fav win shoutout gif) and the day to day humour, fun and emotional support are the backbone of the firm. I want people to want to come to work, to feel motivated and inspired by our colleagues, and to always feel valued on our team.

More Inclusive

If planned out properly, the deliberate communications and collaboration systems can amount to more inclusiveness in the office, more regular check-ins, and more 1:1 facetime between mentors and mentees. Gone are the cliques and clubs of a traditional firm, where a lot of the mentoring happens at lunch in the food court or when a partner takes a particular shine to someone he sees as his successor. Women are usually on the losing end of that approach, regardless of how many golf lessons we take or sports scores we memorize. Introverts and nose-down lawyers who want to get out of the office instead of doing the post-5pm debriefs and war storytime also benefit from a more organized, online system.

A law firm is about people, about our learning environment, staying up to date on the law, developing practical legal skills and having the safe space to make mistakes and grow. This has never just happened by wandering through the halls and “absorbing” learning. People will always get lost in the shuffle in that traditional system. A deliberate online system can really help plug people directly into the warp core of the firm and not get lost on the sidelines.

Whether it’s our current articling student Deidre, our 2019 student Sherifa, our junior colleague Oren who worked with us in 2019, or our current mid-level lawyer Danielle, having standing weekly meetings to review files and be available for questions builds confident, skilled lawyers. Our senior lawyers Hilary and Marnie each participate actively in mentoring, supporting the team and just being super nice people to newer lawyers in the firm. This is no different in a traditional firm, but because we don’t just bump into each other in the hallways, our scheduled interactions ensure regular and frequent internal coaching.

Work Product Collaboration

Aside from the formal and informal mentoring, being able to work directly in documents with colleagues in real-time, while on a video or phone call brings collaboration to a new level. Rather than sitting across the desk from a senior partner, watching him or her revise your draft with a red pen, then sending it over to an assistant to do up, then email or save that draft as another version (was it version 2 or 2b or the one with the new name? or new date?), you just sit virtually side by side and work on it together, often while on a video or telephone call at the same time.

We can do edits together, hammer through rush jobs faster, see and talk through each other’s revisions for teaching moments, and save so much time. Working remotely across Ontario means our systems assume we will not see each other and builds in digital connection and systems. Making all of your client documents, communications, files and resources paperless and available to all will make your collaboration seamless and efficient.

Clients Dig It

“But I really want to go meet my lawyer in their fancy office in person” – said hardly any 21st-century client ever.

When a person seeks out legal help, they are usually at a moment of crisis or at the least, have a big expensive problem to solve. In that pressing moment, does your client really want to pack up all their paperwork and files, get into a car or on the subway, find their way in the PATH or parking lot, go into a beautiful, expensive looking lobby, be greeted with expensive coffee to keep them occupied while they wait in that lobby wondering how much of their hourly bill goes to the fresh flowers on the reception desk, and then make their way home or back to work afterwards in traffic and hassle?

Other than at litigation proceedings, we do not meet clients in person and have had to turn away around 3-4 people in the last 3 years because of that. However, we’ve gained many, many more clients because of our virtual set up and our ability to reach clients without geographic restrictions.

If the whole point is to talk to a lawyer and be advised on an issue or documents, why not just email the docs and have a video call? It saves the client so much time, they can sit in the comfort of their own home or convenience of their office. If you focus on making your intake process as digital as possible, then meeting up with a lawyer the same day is often possible. Clients don’t want to wait around until next week’s appointment anymore. They do, however, typically want to combine the digital onboarding with a personal check-in, usually by phone.

Our Administrative Secret Sauces

When building out a virtual firm, the nature of the admin roles shifts. I don’t need any front line assistants to type out my letters or file my emails. We focus more on what admin professionals we need to support our clients and our team in a tech-integrated manner.

Our Client Services Manager, Jessica, is our secret sauce to ensuring the digital process doesn’t get in the way of a personal touch, and to build trust with potential clients looking for a lawyer. Our Office Manager, Janice, is the secret sauce for anyone with invoice or billing related issues and is the brains and talent behind so much of our firm’s systems, financial strategy, HR, tech set up and pretty much everything else.  Our Project Manager, Amanda is our secret sauce for supporting our team, organizing our in-person meetings and building out our online solutions.

I realize there are areas of law where the client doesn’t have the tech skills or resources to access the law online. This is a serious A2J issue we’ll collectively need to figure out, but not a concern for most of your typical clients already in the pipeline.

The Clients Changed Years Ago Anyway

I’ve had old-school lawyers approach me at law gatherings (yes! I do still go to things in person!) and say you cannot replace the eye to eye in-person experience. Those same people are now bragging about their (3 week-old) Zoom skills and how effective their online services are. Change is hard for humanity, but the sooner lawyers realize that their clients pivoted years ago, the sooner we’ll get out of our ivory towers where we think our services are so fundamentally different or more profound than any other serious personal or business issue out there.

What clients really want is cost-effective, efficient, relevant, practical, down-to-earth, personal and real legal advice. Having tech and digital support for all of that is a win-win for growing your firm and serving your clients in a way that better resonates with most people out there in the real world.

COVID-19 has ushered in a new reality that, for some, will be a permanent change. For others, a welcome acknowledgement that remote working is just no biggie.

Thank you to all of our clients, friends and family for all of your support during our first 3 years. Here’s to 30 more!

Answers to frequently asked questions from employers regarding COVID-19 – the impact, rules and best practices for addressing the global coronavirus outbreak in the workplace. (Last Updated March 30, 2020).

Further free resources can be found here.

Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.

COVID-19The measures introduced to protect us all from COVID-19 have had a huge economic impact on individuals and businesses. The federal government has been rolling out – and changing – various relief measures over the past few weeks. 

Today we will outline two new measures which will likely be helpful to many of the businesses and individuals impacted: the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the Small Business 75% Wage Subsidy. 

An Alternative to EI: The Canada Emergency Response Benefit

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was announced on March 25, 2020. It is an alternative form of loss of income benefit. 

The CERB will provide $2,000 a month for up to four months (16 weeks) to workers who have somehow lost their incomes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some differences between this benefit and EI:

  • It will be the same amount for everyone – $500 a week 
  • It will last for a maximum of 16 weeks 
  • You don’t have to qualify for EI to get it, meaning… 
    • It will be available to the self-employed
    • It will be available to contractors 

Who qualifies? In order to qualify for this benefit, an individual will have to have lost their income because of COVID-19. A loss of income could result from being unable to work due to illness or caregiving responsibilities, or because contracts or work hours have been cancelled, and likely other reasons. Employees who are unable to work because their workplace has been closed, for example, will also be able to get this benefit. 

We do not have details about this benefit yet, but the feds say that applications will be available in early April. 

Payments will begin within 10 days of applying and can be retroactive to March 15, 2020. 

Support for Small Businesses: Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy – 75%

On March 27, 2020, the federal government announced new supports for impacted small businesses, among them a new 75% wage subsidy. On March 30, 2020, PM Trudeau stated that employers should bring laid-off employees back, with the help of this subsidy, wherever possible. 

Qualifying businesses will be able to access this benefit for up to 3 months. Eligibility criteria will be available before the end of the month – so presumably today or tomorrow. We expect that employers will need to demonstrate a significant dip in revenue due to COVID-19. The benefit will be retroactive to March 15, 2020. 

Currently in place, is a 10% wage subsidy, up to a maximum subsidy of $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per eligible employer. 

Eligible employers must be a non-profit organization, registered charity, or a Canadian-controlled private corporation AND have an existing business number and payroll program account with the CRA on March 18, 2020, AND pay salary, wages, bonuses, or other remuneration to an employee.

Canadian-controlled private corporations are only eligible for the subsidy if their taxable capital employed in Canada for the preceding taxation year, calculated on an associated group basis, is less than $15 million.

Businesses receive this subsidy by reducing their remittances of income tax withheld on their employees’ pay.

Check out additional supports for businesses here. 

Parting Thoughts

Stay tuned for updates on our blog and access our CODIV-19 resources. We are constantly updating our resources as new information becomes available. 

If you’d like to book a consultation to speak with us about your unique situation we are here to help! Get in touch. 

FAQs for Employers – Frequently asked questions by employers needing more information on the impact, rules and best practices for addressing the global coronavirus outbreak. (Last Updated March 26, 2020).

Further free resources can be found here.

Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.