In Croke v. VuPoint System Ltd., 2024 ONCA 354, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) upheld the Superior Court of Justice – Ontario (SCJ)’s summary judgment decision that an employee’s refusal to comply with their employer’s...more
8/20/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Frustration of a Common Purpose ,
Health and Safety ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Termination
A new General Labor Law (NGLL) was enacted by Law No. 12/23, of 27 December 2023, which came into force on March 26, 2024.The NGLL repealed the former General Labor Law (approved by Law No. 7/15, of June 15, 2015),...more
In Kopyl v. Losani Homes, 2024 ONCA 199, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) affirmed the lower court’s finding that an invalid without-cause termination clause in an employee’s employment agreement does not invalidate a...more
In Nelson v. Goodberry Restaurant Group Ltd. dba Buono Osteria and others, 2021 BCHRT 137, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal found that a restaurant and its managers that refused to use a server’s pronouns, among...more
3/21/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Canada ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Expression ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
LGBTQ ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Transgender
In Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held that the termination provisions of a fixed-term employment contract were illegal and unenforceable because...more
3/12/2024
/ Canada ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Fixed-Term Labor Contracts ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
The Ontario Human Rights Commission recently published a policy statement (Policy) pertaining to “caste-based discrimination” under Ontario’s Human Rights Code (Code). The Policy advises organizations that they have a legal...more
1/30/2024
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Canada ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Ontario ,
Policy Statement ,
Race Discrimination
Under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (known as the Closing Loopholes Act), as of January 1, 2025, intentional underpayment of employees’ wages and certain benefits will be a criminal offense, with a maximum of 10 years’...more
In 2023, Canada saw significant statutory and case law developments in labour and employment law. This Insight provides an overview of notable 2023 developments, with links to more detailed articles and commentary....more
In Shalagin v. Mercer Celgar Limited Partnership, 2023 BCCA 373, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) upheld the lower court’s dismissal of an employee’s wrongful dismissal claim and its finding that his surreptitious...more
In Van Hee v Glenmore Inn Holdings Ltd., 2023 ABCJ 244 (Glenmore), the Alberta Court of Justice found that an employer’s mandatory vaccination policy was a reasonable, justified and lawful response to the extraordinary...more
12/18/2023
/ Canada ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In Guidance on wage or salary information on job postings (Guidance), the Government of British Columbia provides additional guidance on s. 2 of the province’s Pay Transparency Act (Act), which requires employers to...more
In Breen v Foremost Industries Ltd, 2023 ABKB 552, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta dismissed the claim of a President and CEO that he had been wrongfully dismissed from his employment, finding that his employment had...more
10/24/2023
/ Breach of Duty ,
Canada ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employees ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Personal Liability ,
Punitive Damages ,
Wrongful Termination
In Café La Foret Ltd. v. Cho, 2023 BCCA 354, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) upheld a lower court’s determination that an employee’s sexual harassment of his subordinate was not sufficiently serious to justify his...more
In Khangura v Lumberwest Building Supplies Inc., 2023 BCSC 1053, the Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed an employee’s claim that he was entitled to damages because he had been wrongfully dismissed without cause. The...more
In Pham v. Qualified Metal Fabricators Ltd., 2023 ONCA 255, the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) found that unless an employee’s employment contract provides otherwise via an express or implied term, an employer’s unilateral lay...more
In Chu v China Southern Airlines Company Limited, 2023 BCSC 21, the court held that an employer that attempted to manufacture just cause for the termination of a vulnerable employee breached its duty of good faith and fair...more
The Global Guide Quarterly (GGQ) is a newsletter Littler publishes on a quarterly basis to provide a general update on global labor and employment (L&E) law developments in key countries in the American, EMEA, and APAC...more
In 2022, Canada saw significant statutory and case law developments in labour and employment law, some of which related to COVID-19. This Insight provides an overview of key 2022 developments, with links to more detailed...more
1/5/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements
In Yates v. Langley Motor Sport Centre Ltd., 2022 BCCA 398, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (BCCA) decided that Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments should not be deducted from damage awards for wrongful...more
In McCharles v Jaco Line Contractors Ltd., 2022 AHRC 115, an employee alleged that her employer discriminated against her on the basis of gender contrary to the Alberta Human Rights Act (AHRA) when it terminated her...more
11/29/2022
/ Canada ,
Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights Act ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Termination
In Lake v. La Presse, 2022 ONCA 742, the only issue on appeal was whether the lower court erred in reducing the employee’s wrongful dismissal damages for failure to mitigate. The Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) set aside the...more
In Ferguson v. Yorkwest Plumbing Supply Inc., 2022 ONSC 4792, an employee who commenced a wrongful dismissal action via Ontario’s Simplified Procedure rules was granted an order striking the employer’s statement of defence...more
Deemed IDEL No Longer Available -
In May of 2020, Ontario filed O. Reg. 228/20, which provided that a non-unionized employee who did not perform their job duties during the “COVID-19 period” because their work hours were...more
8/10/2022
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Layoffs ,
Ontario ,
Wage and Hour
In Chartwell Housing REIT v. Healthcare, Office and Professional Employees Union, Local 2220, 2022CanLII 6832 (ON LA) (Chartwell), Arbitrator Gail Misra considered a provision in a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy that...more
2/24/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Canada ,
Collective Agreements ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In 2021, Canada saw significant statutory and case law developments in labour and employment law, some of which related to COVID-19. This Insight provides an overview of key 2021 developments, with links to more detailed...more
12/17/2021
/ Canada ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance ,
Workplace Violence ,
Wrongful Termination