Articles 2023

There have been several changes to Ontario employment law over the past year that will have lasting impacts on both employees and employers. A ban on non-compete agreements, mandatory written policies on disconnecting from work & electronic monitoring, business & IT consultants becoming exempt from ESA and new rules of temporary help agencies and recruiters are among these changes. Read on to learn about the implications of these changes on employee and employers in Ontario.

I often write and speak about winning at mediation (it’s not an oxymoron), and as a mediator, I remain convinced that most counsel can do a much better job with their advocacy at mediation (also not an oxymoron). One of my mantras has become “help me to help you”; since I will be your advocate in the other room, make it as easy as possible for me to understand and explain your case in a compelling manner when I am speaking with the other side. That is how you win at mediation.

This article considers whether alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, meets the statutory requirement to conduct an investigation into allegations of workplace harassment under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. We conclude that alternative dispute resolution does not satisfy an employer’s duty to investigate, but we encourage employers to consider using mediation and other restorative techniques as part of their overall response to a complaint of workplace harassment.

In this article, we explore the various methods in employment law forums available to enforce a settlement, as well as understanding the test for when a settlement will be found to be binding in the event that a party changes its mind or attempts to resile.

For almost 20 years, mediation has been required in most civil litigation proceedings in Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor. Mandatory mediation has significantly reduced the time taken to resolve cases and increased litigant satisfaction. A provincial roll-out of mandatory mediation will alleviate the current backlogs in Ontario courts and address the province’s urgent need to increase access to justice.

While we generally refer to mediation as a confidential and without prejudice process, the truth is that there are three potential situations in which what happens at mediation can be referenced and relied upon. It is important that counsel are aware of these exceptions, and advisable that they ensure that mediations they participate in are governed by an agreement which rebuts them to the extent possible. My standard mediation agreement does so, but not all of them do.

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic’s heavy influence on employment law, 2021 also saw the introduction of new law dealing with employees’ “right to disconnect” and the near-banning of non-competition clauses and agreements. Additionally, a series of prominent and influential decisions emerged from Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal, Superior Court and Court of Appeal relating largely to workplace culture issues. We discuss this and more in our look back at 2021, and what’s to come in 2022.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved, so too have workplace dynamics, rules, and consequences. The availability of COVID-19 vaccines has added a new layer of complexity for workplace parties to navigate. This article explores how workplace mandatory vaccination policies are being reviewed by courts, labour boards and tribunals.