Articles 2019

Today
Today
Federal Government Introduces Legislation to Address Violence and Harassment in the Workplace

Federal Government Introduces Legislation to Address Violence and Harassment in the Workplace

  • May 10, 2018
  • Matthew Craig

In the wake of the #MeToo campaign, which has grown to include several shocking revelations of sexual harassment on Parliament Hill, the Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-65 – An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1.

Labour and Employment Law, Student Forum
Assessing Random Drug and Alcohol Policies: Recent Guidance from BC

Assessing Random Drug and Alcohol Policies: Recent Guidance from BC

  • May 10, 2018
  • Tyler Boggs

The recent case of USW Locals 7884 and 9346 v Teck Coal Ltd (Fording River and Elkview Operations) affirms the general arbitral consensus that, absent sufficient evidence of a workplace problem with drug and alcohol use, the implementation of a random drug and alcohol testing policy is likely to be dismissed as an unreasonable exercise of management rights.

Labour and Employment Law, Student Forum
'In Accordance with ESA' Not Good Enough to Oust Common Law Reasonable Notice

'In Accordance with ESA' Not Good Enough to Oust Common Law Reasonable Notice

  • May 10, 2018
  • Barry Fisher

A recent Alberta Court of Appeal decision ruled that a clause indicating that upon termination the employee would only receive notice “in accordance with the provincial legislation for the province of employment" was not sufficient to oust the employee's entitlement to common law reasonable notice.

Labour and Employment Law, Student Forum
Recent Court of Appeal Decision on Bonus and Benefits Over the Notice Period

Recent Court of Appeal Decision on Bonus and Benefits Over the Notice Period

  • May 10, 2018
  • Ozlem Yucel

A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision confirmed that that test set out in Paquette continues to govern the determination of whether an employee is entitled to a bonus over the notice period. Further, the assessment of an employee’s damages on account of lost benefits is not based on the employee’s replacement costs of those benefits over the notice period, but rather on the pecuniary value of lost benefits flowing from termination.

Labour and Employment Law, Student Forum
If You Shouldn’t be Saying it, Don't: Sharing Confidential Information Can be Cause for Dismissal

If You Shouldn’t be Saying it, Don't: Sharing Confidential Information Can be Cause for Dismissal

  • May 10, 2018
  • Nadia Zaman and Stuart Rudner

In Manak v Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia, 2018 BCSC 182, the British Columbia Supreme Court held that where a managerial employee breaches his or her confidentiality obligations, the employer may have just cause for dismissal. This decision not only shows that breach of confidentiality obligations can constitute just cause for dismissal, but also emphasizes the importance of a properly executed release.

Labour and Employment Law, Student Forum

Hospital Protected by Public Hospitals Act in Physicians’ Wrongful Dismissal Claim

  • April 12, 2018
  • Kate Deakon, lawyer, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and Anne Corbett, partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

This article decision summarizes a recent decision, where the Court concluded that subsection 44(5) of the Public Hospitals Act will provide a hospital protection where the board of the hospital determines that the hospital will cease to provide a service.

Health Law, Labour and Employment Law
Severing a Single Sentence: The Interplay of the Employment Standards Act and Severability Clauses

Severing a Single Sentence: The Interplay of the Employment Standards Act and Severability Clauses

  • February 13, 2018
  • Dena Varah

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.

Labour and Employment Law
Bill 148 and Construction Employers

Bill 148 and Construction Employers

  • February 13, 2018
  • Sydney Kruth

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.

Labour and Employment Law
Classification of Workplace Relationship – Treading on Thin Ice?

Classification of Workplace Relationship – Treading on Thin Ice?

  • February 12, 2018
  • Shefali Rajaputra

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.

Labour and Employment Law