re-opening business during COVID-19Many 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

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

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

lampshadeWe all have an office party horror story.  The partner who got too sloppy and friendly with the summer student, the awkward aversion of eye contact the next day, or the overly honest comments from the disgruntled employee.

While holiday parties can be an important employee morale booster, for the employer they can present a minefield of potential liability and complaints. For start-ups and entrepreneurs, the informal culture can particularly be an invitation to indulge and live it up in the name of hipster, relaxed office counter-culture.

Employer host liability, however, applies to all workplaces.  Even if it’s a Saturday night and you’re at a fancy bar, the employee’s right to harassment free work environment extends to off-site employer sponsored events. If your company’s New Year’s resolutions have something to do with avoiding human rights complaints, harassment allegations or claims for social host negligence here are our top tips to get you started on the right path.
Continue Reading Holiday Party Tips for the Young Boss

Does racism necessarily lead to a poisoned workplace?

At the end of last month, the Ontario Court of Appeal concluded in General Motors of Canada Limited v Yohann Johnson that while the former employee, Johnson, “genuinely believed that he had been the victim of racism in his workplace” and that his “perception of events unfortunately

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/aforgrave/6168689222/">aforgrave</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

In this fourth piece on Bringing Your Own Device to work, I build upon my past posts that set out the benefits, costs and risks of BYOD.

So you’ve now decided to jump in (or some other reckless decision maker in your organization has), and you now have to develop your BYOD program.  Here are

As employees increasingly demand to use their preferred electronic device in the workplace, employers are working through whether the “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) concept is a good idea, or an employee perk to ban for security and cost reasons. In my next few blog posts, I plan to explore the issue and

Mandatory Workplace Postings in Ontario - Lisa StamI 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