On March 21, 2024 Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023 (Bill 149) received Royal Assent. As discussed in our initial blog, More Legislative Changes on the Horizon for Ontario Employers, late last year when the...more
On November 14, 2023, the Ontario government tabled Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023 (Bill 149) which, as of the date of this blog, has been referred to the Standing Committee on Social Policy. If implemented as...more
As you may have heard or read in our earlier blog, More Changes to Ontario's Employment-Related Legislation Are on the Horizon, the Ontario government introduced Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023 in late March 2023. On...more
On March 20, 2023, the Ontario government introduced Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023 (Bill 79), which, if passed, will introduce changes to Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) and other employment-related...more
As we discussed in our previous insight, Ontario Passes New Legislation Which Includes an Electronic Monitoring Policy and a New Act for Digital Workers, the Ontario government amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the...more
Two underlying themes for the Spring 2022 Bennett Jones Economic Outlook are supply shortages and economic uncertainty. These themes also resonate in analyzing developments and prospects in the Canadian labour market more...more
The Ontario government has recently passed new legislation, Bill 88: Working for Workers Act, 2022, which includes amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, as well as...more
4/21/2022
/ Canada ,
Cell Phones ,
Electronic Monitoring ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
GPS ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Laptop Computers ,
New Legislation ,
Ontario
Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health announced on March 9, 2022 the Province's plan for lifting the majority of the remaining COVID-19 related public health and workplace safety measures. This announcements comes just a...more
3/14/2022
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
Public Health ,
Quarantine ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
As we discussed in our previous blog, Ontario Bill 27: Working for Workers Act, 2021 is Now the Law, the Ontario government amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the ESA) on December 2, 2021 to include a prohibition on...more
The "right to disconnect" refers to an employee's ability to not engage in work-related communications (emails, texts, telephone calls, video calls, etc.) while off duty....more
2/21/2022
/ Canada ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Off-Duty Employee Access ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Right to Disconnect ,
Telecommunications ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Privacy
In an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, and in accordance with public health guidance, many Ontario employers have implemented vaccination policies over the past year....more
As you may have heard or read in our earlier blog, Ontario Introduces Employee-Friendly Legislation Which Includes Prohibition on Non-Competes, the government introduced Bill 27: Working for Workers Act, 2021 in late October...more
The Ontario government introduced legislation on October 25, 2021, which if passed, will prohibit non-competes in employment agreements, mandate that employers have a "disconnect from work" policy and require temporary help...more
On October 18, 2021, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Battiston v Microsoft Canada Inc., 2021 ONCA 727, in which it overturned the trial court's finding that termination provisions in a stock award...more
On October 1, 2021, the general minimum wage rate that applies to most provincially-regulated employees in Ontario will increase from $14.25 to $14.35 per hour. This 10-cent boost is tied to the Ontario Consumer Price Index...more
9/29/2021
Last month, we wrote about a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court in Coutinho v Ocular Health Centre, which found that employees placed on a temporary leave under O. Reg 228/20 Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (the...more
7/7/2021
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Medical Leave ,
Paid Leave ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour
A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court has dealt yet another blow to employers in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The decision of Justice D.A. Broad in Coutinho v Ocular Health Centre, released April 27,...more
On April 29, 2021, the Ontario Legislature passed the COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act, amending section 50.1 of Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). As a result, provincially regulated employers must now provide...more
5/5/2021
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Risk Management ,
Sick Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
On January 15, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada denied an application for leave to appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal's June 2020 decision in Waksdale v Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391. As a result, many...more
The Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Matthews v Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd., 2020 SCC 26, highlights the high standard a court will require to rebut the presumption at common law that a dismissed employee will receive...more
As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in Ontario, Premier Ford announced on September 28, 2020, that Ontario "is in the second wave". As part of measures to flatten the curve during this second wave of COVID-19,...more
The Ontario government has extended the temporary relief measures under Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) set out in O. Reg. 228/20: Infectious Disease Emergency Leave until January 2, 2021....more
In Battiston v. Microsoft Canada Inc., 2020 ONSC 4286, the Ontario Superior Court held that a contractual provision (that unambiguously excluded the employee's rights to unvested stock awards after he was terminated without...more
On July 17, 2020, in response to public consultations, the Department of Finance, introduced draft legislative proposals which, if implemented, would extend the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) to December 19, 2020, and...more
Ontario employers, already grappling with the challenges of managing employee costs during the COVID-19 pandemic, now face the burden of an Ontario Court of Appeal decision that could materially increase many employers'...more