A Guide for Employers during COVID-19
This Guide 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 22, 2020).
Further free resources can be found here.
Should you need legal advice on how to manage
This week in Ontario many businesses are re-opening. Employers and employees alike have questions about going back to work and the intersection of re-starting businesses with the various government subsidies that have been tiding many people over.
Bringing Employees Back to Work Using the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
Many employers have laid off a good portion of their workforce and now with re-opening are looking to bring some of those workers back. Businesses that have been hit hard financially may be able to take advantage of the CEWS while earnings are still uncertain as business ramps back up. Getting the CEWS for employees who have been laid off is a little complicated because of the definition of an eligible employee. But first, let’s look at eligible employers. Continue Reading Government Benefits and Bringing Employees Back: The CERB and CEWS
The provinces are opening back up and various guidance has been issued to employers regarding how to do so safely, but the virus still exists and it’s still contagious. Governments who have been encouraging people to stay home are now contemplating how to get people to go out when really conditions regarding the virus have not drastically changed. This juxtaposition will have an impact on workplaces.
Continue Reading Considerations for Employers as We Return to Work
Many provinces across Canada have started the process of re-opening businesses. In Ontario, a select few seasonal businesses have been allowed to open this week with restrictions. These include seasonal businesses and some essential construction. Check out the Provincial News Release for the details.
While the list is still very short, we can be sure
SpringLaw is super excited to share that Jessyca Greenwood has joined our team! Jessyca brings with her over a decade of experience as a trial lawyer with a focus on criminal law, professional misconduct, mental health advocacy, and the complex way these areas intersect with the workplace.
Jessyca’s skills as a fierce advocate will fuel
How 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
At SpringLaw we get a lot of questions from both employers and employees about the intersection of the criminal law and the employment relationship. Unfortunately it’s easier, and likely more common, than you might think to get somehow mixed up in a police database or wind up with a criminal record.
Many employers will require
At the end of August, our new law firm will be half a year old. After a decade of practicing law in other peoples’ firms, I have to say, being the owner of the business is even better than I had expected. It’s not fewer hours, has just as many (but different) headaches, and the day to day law is no less challenging than being at a big global law firm.
But the difference is, the hours, headaches and challenges are mine to own, and mine to prioritize according to client needs rather than according to big infrastructure timelines and priorities.
But then there’s all the administrative work.Continue Reading Employment Contracts (whether you like them or not)
I doubt there is anything more dry than reading a blog post about mandatory workplace government posters, but it’s a mandatory requirement that comes with fines and cranky inspectors if you don’t comply with the requirements. And I will try to make this a short post to minimize the pain.
New OHSA Requirement
As of
While we may share a love of hockey, beer and Justin Bieber, there remains many intangible cultural and legal differences between Canadian and US employment law. Given the global nature of most of the clients I work with, I frequently advise US employers on the subtle – and sometimes not so subtle – distinctions between