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
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
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
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
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
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
As an alternative to engaging in layoffs or reducing work-weeks (which we discuss in Employer's Guide to COVID-19—Managing Issues of Pay), an employer may consider applying for relief under the existing Canadian Work Sharing...more
The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was first reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. Since then, COVID-19 dominates domestic and international news sources as the virus continues to spread globally....more
3/13/2020
/ Canada ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Travel ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Workplace Safety ,
World Health Organization
North v Metaswitch Networks Corporation, 2017 ONCA 790 [Metaswitch] is the latest in a series of employee-friendly appellate level decisions where a contractual termination provision is not enforced. The Ontario Court of...more
In an important decision (Wilson v Atomic Energy of Canada Limited) for federally regulated employers, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the “unjust dismissal” provisions in the Canada Labour Code mean non-union employees...more
On November 20, 2014, Bill 18, the Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, 2014, received royal assent. This amends five employment and labour-related statutes in Ontario in an effort to protect employees. The effect...more
The Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations that became effective on April 1, 2014, could substantially increase the number of Canadians who are using lawfully prescribed medical marijuana. As the number of prescribed...more