Articles

Employees are protected from all workplace harassment according to the Supreme Court of Canada in a recent case in British Columbia.

Employers sometimes rely on severability clauses to hedge against the risk that clauses in employment contracts could be found to run afoul of the Employment Standards Act and be unenforceable as a whole. However, in a recent decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal signalled that these clauses have limited effect when parties include terms in agreements that contract out of minimum employment standards.

The most significant changes to the ESA in more than fifteen years were recently implemented pursuant to Bill 148. This article has provided an overview of the construction-specific standards and exemptions introduced by Bill 148 and the newly amended Regulations to the ESA.

This article discusses the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Fisher v. Hirtz, which ruled on the issue of ‘employee versus independent contractors’ and highlighted the common law principles for differentiating employees from independent contractors and dependent contractors.

In the recent decision Wood v. CTS of Canada Co., the Ontario Superior Court provided useful guidance to employers, unions and employees caught up in a mass termination. The Court emphasized the importance of providing proper early notice to the Ministry of Labour and securing adjustment services for affected employees.

In most cases, an employer’s liability will be based on the circumstances existing at (and at times, leading up to) the date of dismissal. Occasionally, however, an employer’s liability may be exacerbated by poor decision-making after the employee has left the building. Over the past twelve months, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has released several decisions that provide a useful outline of how this can happen.

The law concerning restrictive covenants in Canada has been a subject of substantial judicial scrutiny as whether or not a court would consider such covenants to be enforceable will depend on the facts of each case. When drafting restrictive covenants for inclusion in an employment contract, employers should consider various guidelines/limitations provided by the courts over time such as reasonableness, territorial and time limitations etc.

An employee’s mitigation efforts remain one of the most contested, and unpredictable, issues in wrongful dismissal matters. In a helpful decision from the Ontario Superior Court, the concept of when retraining is appropriate was considered.

The line between resignation and constructive dismissal has become increasingly blurred and is a common issue of contention in employment litigation. In the recent case of Persaud v Telus Corporation, the Ontario Court of Appeal provides useful guidance regarding the effect of conduct in determining whether a resignation is actually a constructive dismissal.