On November 30th, 2021, the Ontario government passed the Working for Workers Act (“Act”). The Act, which was first introduced back in October, will require employers with 25 or more employees to develop a written disconnecting from work policy. In the Act, “disconnecting from work” is defined as, “not engaging in work-related communications, including emails, […]
Both the BC and Ontario Human Rights Tribunals have recently issued significant general damages awards to employees where an employer failed to respect the employee’s request for the employer to use their preferred pronouns. In Nelson v Goodberry Restaurant Group LTD., the BC Human Rights Tribunal awarded a former server $30,000.00 in general damages for […]
Ontario has taken the first step towards requiring employers to provide employees with the ‘right to disconnect’ from work., The Working for Workers Act, 2021 (“Act”) has been introduced (but not yet passed) and would require most employers introduce “right to disconnect” policies as well as bar non-compete clauses. In a purported effort to promote […]
The B.C. Supreme Court recently awarded a terminated employee, with less than three months of service, more than $140,000 in wrongful dismissal and aggravated damages. The employer in this case made a number of errors, including having two separate employment agreements (one before commencement of employment and one after), inducing an employee to leave secure […]
Employers in Ontario, Manitoba, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan, will be required to comply with the new increased minimum wage effective October 1, 2021. Effective October 1, 2021, the general minimum wage in Ontario increased to $14.35 per hour. Under the Making Ontario Open for Business Act this increase is tied to the Ontario Consumer […]
New legislation has been passed, resulting in several changes to the Canada Labour Code that directly affect federally regulated employers. For the purpose of clarity, the below changes do not impact provincially regulated employers. New Minimum Wage: Effective December 29, 2021, the new federal minimum wage is $15.00 per hour. If an employee works in a jurisdiction with […]
Back in June the Ontario government extended the deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”) to September 25th, 2021 – it has now been extended once again and will end on January 1st, 2022 (if not extended again). As a reminder, deemed IDEL applies to the following: A non-unionized employee whose employer has temporarily reduced or […]
Many employers continue to experience confusion respecting the new upcoming Federal statutory holiday – the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The new holiday, which will be recognized on September 30th starting this year, was introduced by the Federal government in June, and originally only applied to federally regulated employers who are governed by the […]
With a Federal Election just around the corner, now is a good time to start thinking about your obligations as an employer to provide your employees with time off work to vote. In accordance with the Canada Elections Act, Canadian citizens who are 18 years of age or older and registered to vote are entitled […]
A recent arbitration decision – ICBC v. MoveUP (Canadian Office and Professional Employees’ Union Local 378) (Mundy Grievance) – highlights how sick leave abuse by employees could be cause for termination, even when employees work from home. By way of background, a unionized employee, who was working from home, requested the Saturday of the August long weekend […]