First Reference Talks

Failure to work notice period did not take away right to sue for damages

Author: Christina Catenacci

Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 09:00

Here’s an interesting case from the British Columbia Court of Appeal. When an employer left a termination letter on a bus driver’s seat for him to find, The Court found there was inadequate notice of termination. The fact that the bus driver left work immediately instead of working the notice period did not negate his right to sue for damages in lieu of notice.

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Tags: BC, breach of contract, British Columbia, common law, Damanges, employment law, inadequate notice of termination, reasonable notice, reasonable termination notice, repudiation of the contract, termination, termination letter, working notice, wrongful dismissal
January 27th, 2012 | Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Slaw: Draft of National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace Released

Author: Yosie Saint-Cyr

Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 11:06

Last year I told you about the plan to release a voluntary national standard for mentally healthy workplaces. The standard aims to help Canadian employers support the psychological health and safety of their employees by providing them with the necessary guidelines and tools to achieve measurable improvements in psychological health and safety in the workplace.

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Tags: CSA Standards, employment law, mental health, National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace
January 26th, 2012 | Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Something for all the boards

Author: Adam Gorley

Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 09:00

What board of directors couldn’t benefit from “A minute on minutes”—that’s board meeting minutes, get it? Here’s an outline of pros, cons and warnings, from basic to advanced.

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Tags: board meetings, board minutes, board of directors, governance
January 26th, 2012 | Posted in Finance and Accounting, Internal Controls, Not-for-Profit | Make a Comment »

Federal non-profit resources

Author: Adam Gorley

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 13:00

With the passing of the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (and all that entails), law firm Drache Aptowitzer has introduced a website dedicated to the Act.

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Tags: Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, CNCA
January 25th, 2012 | Posted in Internal Controls, Not-for-Profit | Make a Comment »

Relief for far-flung and busy non-profit boards

Author: Adam Gorley

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 09:00

Under the recently enacted Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, directors and board members can pass resolutions without holding actual meetings. Many organizations will likely find this measure convenient, particularly where members are often unavailable for meetings due to time and distance.

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Tags: board meetings, board members, board of directors, board resolutions, Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, CNCA, director
January 25th, 2012 | Posted in Internal Controls, Not-for-Profit | Make a Comment »

Accessibility compliance: is accommodation enough?

Author: Andrew Lawson

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 09:00

I am going to tell you a story that will test your knowledge of your current legal responsibilities under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the Ontario Human Rights Code. For those readers who pass the test, congratulations, you are providing all your customers with the respect they deserve and have sufficient knowledge to insulate your organization from legal liability. For those of you who don’t pass, well, we’ll give you another chance and point you in the direction of some helpful resources to help you get on track!

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Tags: accessibility compliance, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Accessibility Standards PolicyPro, accessible building, AODA, AODA seminar, ASPP, OHRC, Ontario Human Rights Code, wheelchair
January 24th, 2012 | Posted in Accessibility Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring, Standard for Customer Service | Make a Comment »

Navigating the minefield: Court of Appeal reiterates distaste for restrictive covenants

Author: Earl Altman

Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at 09:00

Hunter Harrison, the former Chief Executive Officer of Canadian National Railway (CNR), faces a dilemma in dealing with his obligations under a non-compete covenant to his former employer. Harrison is being pursued by CNR competitor Canadian Pacific Railway to assume the position of CEO, but taking that position might violate the non-compete agreement.

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Tags: Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, CNR, competing with former employer, competitive activities of former employees, employment contract, H.L. Staebler, injunctions, Mason v. Chem-Trend, non-compete clause, non-competition, overly broad, proprietary interest, restrictive covenant, Shafron, termination, time and geographic limits
January 23rd, 2012 | Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

The debate over moral damages continues

Author: Andrew Taillon

Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 09:00

Since Honda v. Keays, employment law and human resources practitioners have been watching how the law regarding bad faith dismissals has developed, in particular, the assessment of moral damages. A recently published decision has added some clarity to the moral damages question. The case, Canada (Attorney General) v. Tipple (2011) dealt with the well known case of Douglas Tipple.

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Tags: bad faith, bad faith dismissals, bad faith termination, Canada (Attorney General) v. Tipple (2011), Douglas Tipple, employment law, grievance, Honda damages, Honda v. Keays, mental health effects, misleading and unduly insensitive, moral damages, psychological injury, reprisal, termination, workplace investigations
January 20th, 2012 | Posted in Employee Relations, Employment Standards, Human Resources | 2 Comments »

USCIS proposes regulatory change to permit stateside processing of unlawful presence waivers

Author: Henry J. Chang

Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 09:00

On January 6, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it was proposing a regulatory change that would allow spouses and children of U.S. citizens who are in the United States but need an immigrant waiver of unlawful presence bar to apply for the waiver within the United States.

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Tags: children of U.S. citizens, Department of Homeland Security, employment law, Foreign workers, immigrant visa, immigrant waiver, Immigration and Nationality Act, United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, unlawful presence bar
January 19th, 2012 | Posted in Corporate Immigration, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Citizenship and Immigration Canada announces excessive demand cost threshold for 2012

Author: Henry J. Chang

Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 09:00

On December 30, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) issued Operational Bulletin 373 (“OB 373”). OB 373 provides additional information relating to the Excessive Demand Cost Threshold (the “Demand Threshold”) for 2012, which became effective on December 1, 2011.

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Tags: barred from Canada based on health grounds, Canadian Institute for Health Information, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, employment law, Excessive Demand Cost Threshold, expected medical costs of the foreign national, foreign national, Foreign workers, health or social services, Operational Bulletin 373, permanent residence in Canada, temporary residents
January 19th, 2012 | Posted in Corporate Immigration, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Safety and security for business travellers: a legal and moral imperative for Canadian employers, part 2

Author: David Hyde

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 09:00

In some cases, business leaders fail to recognize that employee travel falls within the physical scope of workplace activities. In other cases, decision-makers believe that only those travelling to international high-risk destinations require any type of security protection. In most organizations, there is also a gap in knowledge when it comes to travel security, contributing to a lack of risk awareness and fragmented ownership of the function within the organization.

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Tags: all reasonable steps, Blue Mountain Resorts Limited v. Ontario, business travel, business travel destinations as workplaces, common law, Duty of care, employee group benefits, employee travel, failure to comply, high-risk locale, hot spots, international travel, non-compliance, occupational health and safety, OH&S, R v Port Colborne, risk assessment, risk management myth, safety risk, security risk, situational awareness, tort liability, tracking travellers, travel and extended health care insurance, travel risk management, travel-related risk, TRM, what is a workplace, workplace, workplace violence
January 18th, 2012 | Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

AODA: Accessible transportation compliance schedule

Author: Suzanne Cohen Share

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 09:00

As you probably know, the Transportation Standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act will come into force over the next five years. The Government has released the accessible transportation compliance dates, and you can find them all below. Obligated transportation providers can keep this schedule as a quick reminder of present and future compliance deadlines.

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Tags: Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, accessibility plan, accessible vehicles, AODA, buses, compliance dates, ferries, Highway traffic act, IAR, Integrated Accessibility Regulation, MCSS, ontario, Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, Regulation 629, retrofit, schedule, Specialized Transportation Service Providers, streetcars, subway, taxi, taxicabs, transportation providers, Transportation standards, vehicle contract
January 17th, 2012 | Posted in Accessibility Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Standard for Transportation | 1 Comment »

Mandatory retirement ends for federally regulated employers

Author: Yosie Saint-Cyr

Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 09:00

The federal government gave royal assent to Bill C-13, Keeping Canada’s Economy and Jobs Growing Act on December 15, 2011. Several of the measures enacted have an impact on employment law for federally regulated workplaces. One of the measures amends the Canadian Human Rights Act to eliminate the mandatory retirement age for federally regulated employees.

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Tags: age, age discrimination, age-based job requirement or qualification, anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies, BFOR, Bill C-13 Keeping Canada’s Economy and Jobs Growing Act, bona fide occupational requirement, Canadian Human Rights Act, duty to accommodate, employment law, federally regulated employers, mandatory retirement, The normal age for retirement in Canada is 65, The Supreme Court of Canada, workplace policies
January 16th, 2012 | Posted in Employee Relations, Employment Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

No age discrimination present – job applicant was simply outperformed in interviews

Author: Christina Catenacci

Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 09:00

I read a case recently that clearly illustrates why employers should ensure that interview questions are related to the actual job responsibilities required for a job, and to remember to make and keep for a reasonable period of time interview notes that include the reasons for hiring (and not hiring) candidates.

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Tags: age discrimination, conducting interviews, documentation, employment law, genuine belief, interview, job applicant, job applicants, job responsibilities, justifiable reasons, Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, outperformed, permanent contract posision, reference, selection process, teacher, testimony, tie questions to job, witness
January 13th, 2012 | Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring | Make a Comment »

Slaw: Internet child pornography reporting regulations

Author: Yosie Saint-Cyr

Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 11:00

On December 6, 2011, the Internet Child Pornography Reporting Regulations were registered in the Canada Gazette and came into force. The goal of the regulations is to establish a framework necessary to implement the mechanics for the designated organizations receiving reports and service providers who report to discharge their duties under An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service.

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Tags: Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service, Canadian Centre for Child Protection, Criminal law, employment law, Internet Child Pornography Reporting Regulations, Internet Service Providers, online sexual exploitation, reporting obligations, secure online system
January 12th, 2012 | Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources, Internal Controls, IT, Privacy and Security | Make a Comment »