Articles

About Articles The following articles are published by the Labour and Employment Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association. Members are encouraged to submit articles. About Articles

Editor: Madeleine Werker

Today
Today
Summary Judgment Motions for Wrongful Dismissal: An Update

Summary Judgment Motions for Wrongful Dismissal: An Update

  • February 06, 2017
  • Andrew Vey

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hryniak v. Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7 (“Hryniak”), summary judgment has become one of the primary tools used by employment lawyers. Recent Ontario court decisions have expanded upon Hryniak and now provide a framework for the circumstances in which to seek summary judgment in the context of a wrongful dismissal. These decisions, however, also serve as a reminder of the limitation of summary judgment and how parties should properly engage with it.

Labour and Employment Law

A Year in Review: Workplace Violence and Harassment

  • December 20, 2016
  • Betty Psarris

This past year has been an important one regarding the workplace violence and harassment provisions of the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act with developments relating to: (i) an employer’s obligations and duties; (ii) the release of one of the first decisions regarding charges laid under the workplace violence provisions of the OHSA; and (iii) the first convictions and fines levied against employers for failure to comply with the workplace violence provisions of the Act.

Labour and Employment Law
Decriminalization of Marijuana Creating a Buzz for Employers

Decriminalization of Marijuana Creating a Buzz for Employers

  • December 20, 2016
  • Lisa Bolton and Andrew Ebejer

With the Federal Government's plan to remove marijuana consumption and incidental possession from the Criminal Code employers must consider how to manage the use of marijuana in the workplace.

Labour and Employment Law
Are Employees Entitled to Bonuses During the Notice Period?

Are Employees Entitled to Bonuses During the Notice Period?

  • December 19, 2016
  • Simone Ostrowski

The Ontario Court of Appeal’s decisions in Paquette v. TeraGo Networks Inc. and Lin v. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan have made it much easier to argue that employees are entitled to compensation for bonuses during the notice period, regardless of what may be contained in an employment contract or bonus plan.

Pensions and Benefits Law
Employers’ Duty to Protect Employees on Social Media: Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113 v Toronto Transit Commission (Use of Social Media Grievance)

Employers’ Duty to Protect Employees on Social Media: Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113 v Toronto Transit Commission (Use of Social Media Grievance)

  • November 11, 2016
  • Kassia Bonisteel is an associate at Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson LLP. Kassia practices labour and employment law and civil litigation for trade unions, associations and individual employees and appears before labour arbitrators, administrative tribunals and the courts.

Do employers have a duty to protect employees from harassment arising from employer operated social media?

Labour and Employment Law
LTIP Plans All Askew?

LTIP Plans All Askew?

  • May 09, 2016
  • Adrian Ishak

Common law duty of good faith (aka Bhasin) wreaking havoc on interpretation of terms in employment contracts.

Labour and Employment Law
Emerging Privacy Torts May Target More Than Just Snooping Employees

Emerging Privacy Torts May Target More Than Just Snooping Employees

  • April 14, 2016
  • Rhonda Shirreff

Since the Ontario Court of Appeal recognized the tort of “intrusion upon seclusion” in the landmark decision Jones v. Tsige, a spotlight has been turned on the issue of unauthorized employee snooping into clients’ personal records for purposes of their own. Further, with the recent recognition of novel privacy torts by both the Federal Court of Canada and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, employers could face new risks when employees decide to push private matters into public view.

Labour and Employment Law

A Summary of Submissions to the Changing Workplaces Review

  • February 25, 2016
  • Phi Nguyen

Public Consultations for the government of Ontario's Changing Workplaces Review have concluded with many interested groups making submissions on how the Employment Standards Act should be amended to better respond to the way Ontarians work. This article summarizes the recommendations made by the Ontario Bar Association and other organizations of both pro-worker and pro-business perspectives, and comments on the changes that are likely to come.

Labour and Employment Law