On May 7, 2021, the Manitoba provincial government announced the Pandemic Sick Leave program to provide employers with up to $600 per employee for up to 5 days for COVID-19 related sick leave. This includes time off for testing, vaccinations and side-effects, self-isolation due to COVID-19 symptoms, or care of a loved one in any […]
The Ontario government has passed the new COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act, which will mandate employers to provide three paid sick days to most employees. Provincially regulated employees (federally regulated employees do no not qualify for these days) will be able to take these three days if they are: going for a COVID-19 test staying home […]
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal recently refused to hear a case regarding an employee’s objection to wearing a mask at work. In The Worker v. The District Managers (2021 BCHRT 39), the employee told his manager that wearing a mask was against his “religious creed”. He was sent home from work and subsequently terminated. […]
Following last week’s e-Alert, where we noted that Alberta was expanding its unpaid personal and family responsibility leave to include getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the province has now changed course and will allow for three hours of paid time off to get the jab. This has already taken effect. As a recap, Saskatchewan and Alberta […]
British Columbia has become the second province (joining Saskatchewan) to provide a new job-protected leave for employees getting the COVID-19 vaccine. In particular, this new leave allows employees to take unpaid time off work to get the COVID-19 vaccine themselves or to take dependent family members to get vaccinated. The B.C. government concurrently announced in […]
In a further effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, Quebec’s workplace safety board (CNESST) has now made it mandatory for masks to be worn at all times in the workplace. This will also apply to those who do outdoor work when a 2-meter distance cannot be maintained. Note that the masks worn in the […]
A recent Ontario decision provides a vital reminder to employers about the importance of an enforceable termination provision and the risks associated with terminating pregnant employees. In Nahum v. Honeycomb Hospitality Inc., a 28-year-old employee with only 4.5 months of service was terminated without cause; she was five months pregnant at the time. Unfortunately for […]
Now that COVID-19 vaccines are slowly becoming available, employers have been questioning not only whether they can mandate the vaccine but what benefits they can provide (or have to provide) to employees getting the vaccine. Saskatchewan has become the first province to require employers to provide employees with up to 3 hours of paid time […]
A recent B.C. case, Fobert v. MCRCI Medicinal Cannabis Resource Centre Inc., highlights the potential cost of handling an employee’s termination in a ‘vindictive and malicious way’. After a year and a half of employment and some corporate changes, Fobert’s position was no longer required. Despite Fobert’s employment agreement providing for 30 days’ notice of […]
Is COVID-19 and its impact on the economy a factor our courts will consider when assessing common law reasonable notice? The answer: It depends. The recent decision of Yee v. Hudson’s Bay Company, an Ontario case, appears to suggest that the negative economic circumstances brought about due to the pandemic may increase an employee’s entitlement […]