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Posts Tagged ‘common law’

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

Friday, January 27th, 2012

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
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

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

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

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
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

The sale of a business and some implications for employers and employees

Monday, December 12th, 2011

Last month I was consulted by a woman with respect to a new employment agreement that she wanted reviewed. The employment opportunity presented to her was by a company that had purchased the software company she was currently employed with for the past 19 years. Her salary remained the same, as did the total of her bonus, although the bonus structure was altered to reflect seemingly unattainable goals. While the new bonus structure did in fact reflect the purchasing company’s exact bonus structure with all of its existing employees, this arrangement was originally her main concern.

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Tags: canadian employment law, common law, common law obligations, company takeovers, employment law, employment standards act, ESA, ESA obligations, Nokes vs. Doncaster, novation, sale of a business, seniority, Sorel vs. Tomenson Whitehead, successor employer, termination, terminations, transitional contract, wrongful dismissal, years of service
Posted in Compensation, Employee Relations, Employment Standards, Finance and Accounting, Human Resources, Internal Controls, Payroll | Make a Comment »

Moral damages: still an unsettled question

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

A recent case out of the Quebec Superior Court Lysecky v. United Parcel Service of Canada Limited 2010 QCCS 5098 is indicative how the question of “moral damages” is still unsettled law.

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Tags: bad faith during the termination, Civil law, common law, employment law, extension of the notice period, Fox v. Silver Sage Housing Corporation, Honda v. Keays, Lysecky v. United Parcel Service of Canada Limited, manner of dismissal, mental distress, moral damages, notice period, Quebec, Quebec Superior Court, Supreme Court of Canada, terminations, Wallace damages, Wallace v. United Grain Growers, wrongful dismissal
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Common law privacy rights: a shifting stance

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

The recent case of R. v. Cole 2011 ONCA 218, a decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal suggests that employees may have some expectations of privacy with regard to work based emails under the Charter.

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Tags: Charter, common law, Common law privacy rights, Employee privacy, employment law, expectations of privacy, PIPEDA, possession of child pornography, privacy rights, R. v. Cole, reasonable expectation of privacy, unauthorized use of a computer, work based emails, Wrongful dismissal suits
Posted in Human Resources, Internal Controls, IT, Privacy and Security, Privacy and Security | Make a Comment »

Firing by email part II: wrongful dismissal implications

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Pursuant to my blog post of January 11, 2011 discussing the implications of firing by email when an employee files a complaint under human rights legislation, Is it okay to fire an employee by email? It may depend on what course of legal action your former employee pursues.

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Tags: common law, discipline, employee handbook, employment law, Firing by email, policy manual, termination, terminations, Wallace, wrongful dismissal
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Comments Off

Is it okay to fire an employee by email?

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

A colleague, and good friend, asked me a very interesting question this week: Is it okay to fire an employee by email?

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Tags: business communication, canadian employment law, common law, communicating in the workplace, employment law, Firing by email, terminations
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

Failure to use employment agreements properly

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

A topic that I address often in presentations and with clients is the failure, on the part of the vast majority of employers in Canada, to use employment agreements properly (if at all). As I have said many times, policies and agreements are the easiest ways for employers to establish the rights and obligations of the parties and avoid having them imposed by common law or other principles.

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Tags: canadian employment law, common law, employment agreements, employment contract, employment law, Home Depot, reasonable notice, termination without cause, terminations, written contracts of employment, wrongful dismissal claim
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring | Make a Comment »

Enforceable dismissal clauses

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

One crucial piece of advice that I offer to employers is to have every single employee sign an employment agreement that, if nothing else, sets out what will happen in the event of dismissal without cause. The reason for this suggestion is simple: without a contractual dismissal provision, an employer’s obligations in the event of dismissal without cause are unpredictable and often extensive.

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Tags: clear and unambiguous, common law, consideration, Dismissal, employment agreement, employment contract, employment standards, inducement, reasonable notice, termination, termination without cause
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Superior court refuses employer’s request for injunction

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

In yet another example of the reluctance of the Ontario Superior Court to restrict competitive activities of former employees, the Court rejected an employer’s request for an injunction…

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Tags: common law, competitive activities of former employees, confidentiality, employee shareholder, employment contract, employment law, employment standards, irreparable harm, non-competition, non-solicitation, ontario, restrictive covenant, restrictive covenants, shareholder agreement, solicitating employer customers, termination
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Textual harassment: A new liability concern?

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

With this whole text-messaging explosion, a new epidemic called “textual harassment” has emerged. I recently read a couple of articles dealing with this new liability concern for employers: textual-sexual harassment. Of course this warning comes from the United States—according to a recent US Justice Department report to Congress, 23 percent of stalking or harassment is happening via text messages. The problem has become so large in the US that 46 states have anti-stalking laws that refer to electronic forms of communication. However… since US lawsuits that involve texting and harassing behaviours are increasing, Canadian employers should beware!

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Tags: bullying, canadian employment law, common law, cyberbullying, cyberstalking, discrimination, employment law, employment standard, employment standards, harassment, HR issues, Human Resources, human rights, occupational health and safety, sexual harassment, social media, text messages, texting, textual harassment
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights | 2 Comments »

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