News & Events

The Ontario Court of Appeal in the 2019 decision of Dawe v. the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada held that only exceptional circumstances would support the award of a notice period in excess of 24 months in relation to the termination of someone’s employment. Recently they had occasion to review that decision.  At trial

After a series of extensions, deemed infectious disease emergency leave (“deemed IDEL”) will expire on July 30, 2022, and paid infectious disease emergency leave (“paid IDEL”) is set to expire on July 31, 2022. Deemed IDEL Recap Subject to certain exceptions, the Ontario government instituted temporary relief from Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) termination and

With the summer months here and many workplaces and employees focused on upcoming time off, it is important that workplaces ensure that they are up to date on new workplace requirements in Ontario. Right to Disconnect Policy For the first year of this new requirement, employers that employed 25 or more employees on January 1,

It is not a criminal act to record conversations where you have the consent of one of the parties, typically by the one who is doing the recording.  However, we now have a case out of British Columbia finding, criminal or not, it was an invasion of privacy and was cause for the termination of

On April 5, 2022, the Government of Ontario announced that the general minimum wage rate will increase to $15.50 per hour on October 1, 2022. This increase will represent a $0.50 increase from the $15.00 per hour minimum wage which was implemented on January 1, 2022. The general and specialized minimum wage rates that will

The Working for Workers Act, 2021 Recently, the Ontario government introduced significant changes to workplace laws, intended to provide a wide array of benefits to employees in the province.  On December 2, 2021, Bill 27: Working for Workers Act, 2021 (“Workers Act“) received Royal Assent. Two of the most notable changes are: i) a prohibition on

In a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the principles in the now infamous Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391 decision were applied to a fixed term contract, striking out a termination clause where the ‘for cause’ termination provision was broader than permitted by the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000

On December 17, 2021, the Canada Labour Code was amended to include the following: Bereavement Leave In the event of the death of an immediate family member or a family member, employees are entitled to a leave of absence from employment for up to ten days. The leave may be taken during the period that

An unintended consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic was a move to remote working and more flexible work arrangements. For many, this shift has blurred the lines between home and office, as remote working and technology continue to make it easier to work from almost anywhere. As a result, the need to develop policies dealing with

On October 25, 2021, the Government of Ontario introduced Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, 2021 (“Bill 27”) to amend, among other things, the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA“). If passed, Bill 27 and the amendments it includes, would significantly alter the employer-employee relationship. The changes proposed by Bill 27 include: New Part VII.0.1 – Right to Disconnect