common law
January 3, 2017 Yosie Saint-Cyr Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Penalties and Fines, Pensions and Benefits, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Training and Development, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation,
At the beginning of a new year, it’s good to wonder what is in store in 2017 for HR law and payroll? Let’s discuss and provide practical steps HR and payroll can take to prepare for these trends and changes.
common law, Discretionary bonus, duty of good faith, duty to mitigate, employee’s resignation, employment contract, employment law, employment law jurisprudence, employment law requirements, employment relationship, Employment Standards legislation, Enhanced Canada Pension Plan, HR Law, HR strategies, Legalization of marijuana, occupational health and safety, Payroll planning, termination of the employment, workers compensation
November 4, 2016 Stuart Rudner Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation,
It appears that the saga of judicial interpretation and consideration of termination clauses will continue, with predictably unpredictable results. Courts will enforce termination clauses that limit an individual’s entitlement to notice of dismissal, but the onus will be on the employer to show that the clause should be enforced.
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October 5, 2016 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Union Relations,
The high costs of litigation and the long delays to have a matter heard in court have raised serious concerns with respect to access to justice in Canada. This challenge can be felt particularly acutely with somebody who has recently been wrongfully dismissed from their employment. While the common law may tell us that a terminated employee may be entitled to receive several more months compensation for their termination than what their employer is offering, often the high cost of litigation require the worker to accept less than they deserve. The high costs of litigation and the long delays to have a matter heard in court have raised serious concerns with respect to access to justice in Canada. This challenge can be felt particularly acutely with somebody who has recently been wrongfully dismissed from their employment. While the common law may tell us that a terminated employee may be entitled to receive several more months compensation for their termination than what their employer is offering, often the high cost of litigation require the worker to accept less than they deserve. But what if someone can have their day in court without the time and expense of trial and discoveries? In many wrongful dismissal cases, a summary judgment application may provide just that.
common law, employment law, Hryniak v. Mauldin, litigation costs, Luchuk v. Starbucks Coffee Canada Inc., summary judgment application, summary trial, terminated employee, termination, worker terminated, wrongful dismissal, wrongful dismissal action
August 3, 2016 De Bousquet PC Barristers and Solicitors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Union Relations,
The impact of this decision will likely be very substantial for a number of reasons. By requiring federally-regulated employers to always provide just cause when terminating non-unionized employees, the Court significantly expanded on the common law and statutory protections available to a large part of the working population. As a consequence of this decision, employees of federally-regulated employers will now be awarded a significantly higher degree of employment protection than their colleagues in the private sector, whose rights are largely governed by less protective provincial laws.
Canada labour Code, common law, dismissal of non-unionized employees, employment contract, employment law, employment protection, federally regulated employers, just cause for dismissal, non-unionized employee, progressive-discipline program, statutory protections, unjust dismissal
July 13, 2016 Lisa Stam Corporate Immigration, Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, International HR Law, International Payroll, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Privacy and Security, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation,
With the hot Toronto tech skills market and the favourable dollar exchange, US employers are increasingly looking north of the border to expand for new business and for new talent. Here are four common mistakes US employers will want to avoid:
at-will employment in Canad, common law, Employee inventions, employee terminations, employer policies, employment contract, employment law, employment relationship, IP laws, Ownership of workplace content, Toronto tech skills market, US employers
July 6, 2016 Rubin Thomlinson LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation,
All employment relationships in Ontario are deemed to be contractual, whether or not a written contract is in place between the parties. When there is no written contract, the common law (judge-made law) imports a number of obligations into the contract that will bind the employer and the employee.
commission plans, common law, conflicts of interest, copyright of works, duty to act fairly, employee benefit plans, employment agreement, employment law, employment relationships, incentive compensation plans, intellectual property rights, judge-made law, non-competition, non-solicitation, pension plans, reasonable notice, restrictive covenants, right to discipline, right to terminate, safe work environment, termination, written contract
April 26, 2016 Stringer LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Wages and Compensation
Canadian employees are presumptively entitled to “reasonable notice” of termination. Although this entitlement can be limited to some extent by contract, an employee will generally be entitled to some advance notice of the end of their employment. If advance notice is not given, then the employer can satisfy this obligation by making a payment equivalent to the earnings the employee would have received over the notice period.
#Learnthelatest, 17th Annual Ontario Employment Law Conference, common law, damages, dismissal without cause, employment contract, employment law, ermination of term contract, fixed-term contracts, notice period, notice provision, reasonable notice, termination, wrongful dismissal
April 14, 2016 Simon Heath Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Wages and Compensation
This decision is another reminder to employers to ensure that termination clauses provide for all entitlements prescribed by the Employment Standards Act in order for them to be considered valid and enforceable. The company in this case should never have carved out its obligation to provide statutory Severance Pay.
common law, contracting out of the minimum standards, employment contracts, employment law, ESA entitlement, Notice of termination, ontario employment standards act, Payroll, Severance pay, severance pay entitlement, statutory severance pay, termination clauses, termination pay, Termination provisions
February 5, 2016 Stuart Rudner Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Wages and Compensation
Let’s begin with a point that comes as a surprise to many employees and employers: there is nothing legally wrong with providing an employee with working notice of their dismissal and requiring that they continue to attend at work and perform their duties throughout the notice period.
common law, corporate downsizing, dismissed for cause, employment contract, employment law, Employment Standards legislation, providing inadequate notice, reasonable notice period, refusing to work during the notice period, repudiated the employment contract, termination, terminations, working notice
September 25, 2015 Devry Smith Frank LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation
In Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the Federal Court of Appeal has clarified the impact of the Canada Labour Code on an employer’s ability to dismiss employees without cause.
Canada labour Code, common law, Dismissal without just cause, employment law, legal context, pay in lieu of notice, Severance pay, termination, unjust dismissal
September 10, 2015 Yosie Saint-Cyr Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation
Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with changes to employment agreements; consequences of employee comments; and, opinions from non-doctor health and medical professionals.
common law, constructive dismissal, Disciplinary measures, doctor's note, duty to accommodate, employee leaves of absence, employment agreements, employment contracts, employment law, HRinfodesk, medical information, Statutory leaves
February 6, 2015 Stuart Rudner Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Wages and Compensation
This post is focused on common traps that many employers fall into in the course of termination. While it is written from the perspective of employers, each of these points applies equally to employees, since an individual that misunderstands these issues will fail to enforce their legal rights and end up leaving substantial amounts of money on the table when they lose their job.
$2.5M payroll threshold, bonuses, calculating termination pay, commissions or other variable pay, common law, continuing benefits, Dismissal, employee’s length of service, employment agreements, employment contract, employment law, employment relationship, employment standards act, notice period, reason for dismissal, Requiring a release, salary or hourly wage, Severance pay, statutory notice period, Termination clause, termination pay, terminations
December 8, 2014 Alison J. Bird Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation
It is a commonly held belief that employees must provide two weeks’ notice when they resign from their employment. However, this blanket statement does not necessarily reflect the applicable legal requirements. While two weeks’ notice is appropriate in many cases, some employees may be required to provide less notice, and other employees may be required […]
common law, Employee resignation, employment contract, employment law, Employment Standards legislation, enforceability of a contractual resignation requirement, How much notice of resignation must an employee provide?, HR Law, reasonable notice
December 5, 2014 Stuart Rudner Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, Union Relations
Small to midsize employers, many HR professionals, and many lawyers proceed based upon completely inaccurate understandings of how employment law works. While there are many examples of this, there are three that I see regularly in my practice: the myth that the severance entitlement in Canada is one month per year, regardless of other factors […]
'rule of thumb, 2000, Bardal Factors, common law, constructive dismissal, employment law, employment standards act, Employment Standards legislation, HR professionals, inducement from prior secure employment, Notice of termination, probationary period, reasonable notice, right to lay employees off temporarily, Small to midsize employers, temporary layoff
September 5, 2014 Stuart Rudner Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation
The distinction between employees and contractors is an issue that will not go away. As I have written about in the past, there seems to be a trend toward giving workers the option of being treated as an employee or a contractor, though the reality is that this impacts nothing other than how they are paid.
Canada Pension Plan contributions, Canada Revenue Agency, common law, contractual arrangement in place, Employee v. contractor, Employee vs. self-employed, employment insurance premiums, employment relationship, Employment Standards legislation, independent contractor, paying taxes, potential liability with respect to unpaid taxes, Self-employed, Tax courts, the relationship was truly one of employer-employee, wrongful dismissal claim
But I *like* paying taxes! At the cottage I don't have to pay for the cottage road, but instead I have to maintain my sections... – Jun 09, 10:28 AM
Thanks Paula! – Jun 09, 9:44 AM
