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Even if the term ‘sandwich generation’ is no longer as widely used, it’s still the reality for hundreds of thousands of Ontarians. Working adults are devoted to moving ahead in their careers while juggling the -
Are you old enough to remember mandatory retirement in Ontario? Those years where, no matter how healthy you were or how much you wanted to keep working, your employer could offer you a gold watch -
Bill has been one of your best employees for over two decades. He works hard, he’s great with customers, and he knows the business inside and out. Over that time Bill has become part of -
Earlier this month we wrote about the laws around gender identity and expression. To recap, gender identity and expression are protected grounds under human rights laws both provincially and federally. Gender identity and gender expression -
If you have not heard the terms “gender identity” or “gender expression” before, don’t panic. Up until the last 10-15 years, issues around gender diversity were more commonly portrayed in the media – often with -
While letting an employee go is often difficult and frustrating, employers generally realize that doing so can be vital to the health of the business. If an employee has not been performing well, or if -
When an employee has their employment terminated, they are entitled to certain things under the law and under their employment contract (if it rises above the minimum legal standards). Under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (the -
Of course, litigation is costly. The costs of going to court are high, in large part due to the amount of preparation that’s behind every minute of trial time. A lawyer needs to spend tens -
One persistent misconception about employment relationships is that a 3-month trial period, during which the employer is free to terminate without notice, is implied. In Ontario, the Employment Standards Act, 2000 does not mandate notice -
The mandatory vaccine policies (“MVP”s) that arose out of the COVID-19 pandemic were welcomed by many, but not without controversy. Most employees were previously unused to having employers involved in their health care decisions and -
Sexual harassment is, undeniably, serious workplace misconduct. That does not mean, however, that all acts of sexual harassment will constitute just cause to terminate employment without appropriate notice. Justifying a termination for cause requires that -
Employment contract drafting often seems like a straightforward exercise. Change the names, tweak some numbers and off you go! In many cases, particularly for lower wage positions, this is the case. In other situations, more careful -
If you’ve never had to terminate someone’s employment before, there’s a strong chance that you’re not entirely sure where to start. You know that you can no longer employ this individual, whether because of changes -
Couples that work together can create interesting workplace issues. The immediate concern tends to be with conflicts of interest, particularly where the couple is in a supervisory relationship. One issue with married colleagues that rarely -
Employers know that business is dynamic. Economic or competitive pressures can arise with little warning (as we know from COVID-19), necessitating changes to employment relationships. In unionized relationships, the employer is bound to a collective -
Each workplace celebrates birthdays on the team in different ways. There is no mandated or required way to acknowledge someone’s birthday at work, and thus offices generally develop their own culture over time. It is -
When you hire an employee in Ontario with no talk of a set end date, the presumption is that the relationship will continue more or less forever. Of course this is not by any means -
Outside of unionized and federally regulated workplaces, employers may terminate employment with appropriate notice of termination. What is appropriate will depend on the parties’ written terms, subject to minimum provincial standards. Absent a mutually agreed notice -
“One month per year.” Most working Ontarians wrongly assume this is the ‘golden rule’ of severance. This is not, nor has it ever been, the law in Ontario. Yet when assessing what a terminated employee -
While employment law is always changing, rarely do these changes happen at breakneck speed. Sometimes a key decision from a high court will make a fundamental change, but those usually happen once every year or -
You may have recently started seeing mouths and chins once again when you go out in public. On March 21, 2022, Ontario ended the mask mandate for the majority of Ontario businesses and public spaces, -
When the Working for Workers Act (the “Act”) passed last Fall, the prohibition against non-competition clauses was one of the least surprising changes to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”). Non-competition clauses, or non-competes for -
As lockdowns once again wind down, employers are left in something of a quandary. Should they continue to allow working from home once offices can safely reopen? Will they be seen as outliers for requiring -
A key principle that runs through all of the dismissal cases we report on is that employers are free to terminate employment relationships, with the provision of notice or payment in lieu of notice. The -
There is a popular belief amongst employers to this day that the law in Ontario about severance pay is ‘one month per year.’ For decades this has been viewed as a sort of golden rule -
Remember when we thought that 2020 was a wild year? 2020 had started uneventfully enough, but ended in the grip of a global pandemic, with most Canadians working from home, and employers simply trying to -
We report on two (2) important legislative changes in relation to employees laid off due to COVID-19 and the Ontario Government’s paid sick leave program. Infectious Disease Emergency Leave Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”) under -
On November 17, 2021, we wrote about Bill 27 – proposed legislation to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”). The bill was passed on November 30th and received Royal Assent on December 2, 2021. -
Most employers understand that caution is warranted when dismissing an employee on pregnancy or parental leave. Certainly, situations will arise due to business closures or financial struggles where an employer will have no choice but -
For many employers in Ontario, the workplace is almost unrecognizable from where it was two years ago. Employers who had never even contemplated remote work have now given up their office space and moved to -
When an employee is let go without cause, they are typically offered a severance package. Employers should always turn to the employment contract (if one exists) to determine what pay in lieu of notice should -
Employment contracts are not something that one should attempt to ‘try at home,’ or at least without professional knowledge and advice. Much like rewiring your own house, or trying that latest Tik Tok challenge, writing -
Job hunting is rarely easy. While some experts say that it may be easier to find a new job when you are currently working, either way the process can be a grind. With steep competition -
Workplace stress is not a new creation, but our awareness of the effects of workplace stress has changed significantly in recent years. We now recognize that severe stress caused by work can lead to significant -
In our most recent post, we started to unpack the idea of workplace investigations, and examined the legal requirements for investigations as well as when they might be necessary. In this part of our Under -
Managing employees can sometimes mean dealing with difficult and complex situations. For the most part employees are loyal and dedicated workers, who provide years of faithful service for an employer’s benefit. Most employees may never -
A key requirement under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) is that employers with a payroll over $2.5M must provide “severance pay” to any employee with 5 or more years of service. Severance pay is -
As an employment lawyer, I cannot stress enough to my clients how important it is to seek qualified employment law advice. Not only does it help ensure that their decisions are compliant with best practices, -
The immediate closure of businesses last Spring left Ontario’s employers in a tight spot. The swift spread of COVID-19 led to the government taking quick action, enforcing stay-at-home orders that shuttered doors of shops, restaurants, -
The battle to bring paid sick leave to Ontario has been a long one. In 2017, Ontario’s Liberal government under then-Premeir Kathleen Wynne introduced Bill 148, also known as the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act,