News & Events

The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld the award of the trial judge finding an employer liable to pay $100,000 in punitive damages and a further $25,000 in aggravated damages, in addition to 19 months’ damages for wrongful dismissal. The employer alleged cause for the employee’s termination and in response to the employee’s claim for

If an employer terminates an employee for cause, an employer has no obligation to provide an employee with notice of termination. It is important to remember that establishing cause to terminate an employment relationship is not easy. The existence of cause will depend on the particular facts of each case. A lawyer from Koskie Minsky

In the Ontario Court of Appeal’s first decision of the year, Heller v Uber, 2019 ONCA 1, the court held that an arbitration clause in the terms that individual drivers are required to “accept” to become drivers for Uber breached the prohibition on contracting out of the Employment Standards Act (ESA), and was otherwise unconscionable

What will an Ontario Court do when faced with a California based employee who is seeking to enforce rights pursuant to a contract against his American employer, for termination of his employment?  If his employment contract provides that the contract would be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of

Last week, the Ford Government tabled the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018, more commonly known as Bill 66. Debate on the Bill will not begin until February 19, 2019, but given the substantial PC majority in the House, it is likely that some version of the Bill will receive Royal Assent in the spring of

Summary and Overview On October 23, 2018, the Ontario government tabled Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, for first reading in the legislature. On November 21, 2018, Bill 47 passed third reading, and received Royal Assent the same day. Bill 47 has made many important changes to various pieces of legislation governing employment

Summary and Overview On October 23, 2018, the Ontario government tabled Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, for first reading in the legislature. Bill 47 makes many important changes to various pieces of legislation governing employment and labour relations in Ontario, principally the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) and the Labour Relations Act,

When we act as counsel to employers, we can be confronted with policies and practices which often have been in place for a long time and may turn out to not actually be in compliance with employment standards requirements. If we work together, we can attempt to find a route typically to become compliant and

The Michaels v. Red Deer College decision of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1976 held that employees pursuing wrongful dismissal damages have a duty to mitigate their damages.  Mitigation earnings reduce the liability of the employer for damages during the notice period to the extent of those earnings.  But what if the terminated employee

The Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017[1] (“SFO”) comes into force on July 1, 2018, repealing and replacing the Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2015[2] and the Smoke-Free Ontario Act[3] (collectively, the “Repealed Acts”). Most notably for employers, the SFO contains new posting requirements for signs and prohibitions regarding the use of medical cannabis. The SFO expands on the