On March 21, 2024, the Ontario government passed the Working For Workers Four Act, 2023. This legislation was originally introduced on November 14, 2023 and comes after several Working for Workers legislative amendments over the last few years. The key amendments of the Working For Workers Four Act, 2023 include: Restaurant and Service Workers In […]
For all Canadian employers, it is crucial to understand the issue of reprisal through various statutory lenses. Today, a brief overview on reprisal in the context of occupational health and safety (“OHS”) legislation, and the remedies that may awarded. To begin, what is reprisal? A reprisal occurs when an employer punishes or threatens to punish […]
In a recent case, Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, the Ontario Superior Court relied on a new argument regarding the validity of a termination clause in a fixed-term employment contract. Ultimately, it was found that the termination clause did not comply with the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 […]
In a recent case out of British Columbia, Lefebvre v. Gisborne Holdings Ltd., an employer learned two hard lessons. First, you should always have an early termination clause in a fixed term contract and secondly, an emotional reaction to an email and subsequent allegation of just cause may not hold up in court. The employer […]
Over the last few months there has been an increase in phishing emails/texts/calls targeting everyone, including employees while at work. While employers can take proactive IT steps to limit these attacks, some will get through – especially if they target the employee’s personal phone or email. We have some suggestions to help protect you and […]
As you are aware, when determining common law reasonable notice periods, courts generally assess the typical factors such as the employee’s age, length of service, income, character of employment and the ability to find comparable employment. Usually, a lengthy period of employment will skew common law reasonable notice awards upwards, however, judges have taken to […]
Happy New Year! As we move in to 2024, we’ve highlighted below some important legal decisions in employment law last year: Giving Consideration to Oral Agreements In Dornan v. New Brunswick (Health), 2023, a New Brunswick labour adjudicator considered whether oral discussions between Dornan and his former employer, Horizon Health Network, prior to the commencement […]
In a recent Alberta decision, McDonald v Sproule Management GP Limited, the judge granted summary judgment instead of a trial to determine an employee’s wrongful dismissal claim against their former employer after being terminated for “just cause.” This unique case sparks some interesting considerations for employers who may be contemplating termination for just cause. First, […]
There appears to be a recent trend, perhaps reflective of court backlogs and a frustrated judiciary, whereby employers who are overly aggressive, make false claims or decline a reasonable settlement offer, are being punished by the courts. In the Ontario wrongful dismissal case of Giacomodonato v. PearTree Securities Inc., 2023, the court took severe offence […]
Further to our last Alert, here are some additional legislative updates that employers should be aware of. Working For Workers, 2023 On October 26, 2023 the Working for Workers Act, 2023 received Royal Assent and is now in force. Among a whole slew of changes the following are the most notable: Mass Terminations – Remote […]