damages

BC Court of Appeal clarifies employee’s duty to mitigate and necessary deductions for “avoided,” and “avoidable”, loss

June 25, 2018 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

A recent BC Court of Appeal decision is a good reminder and summary of the principles underlying an employee’s duty to mitigate following a wrongful dismissal, and confirms that post-termination income in excess of supplementary income that an employee has earned while employed is properly deducted from a wrongful dismissal damages award.

BC Court of Appeal, damages, duty to mitigate, fringe benefits, notice assessment, notice period, post-termination earnings, reasonable notice period, replacement income, termination without cause, wrongful dismissal

Wal-Mart employee awarded $250,000 in moral damages and $500,000 in punitive damages

February 13, 2018 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring

Wal-Mart was found to have breached its duty as it was trying to find a new position for Ms. Galea. I don’t know if this case will turn out to be an outlier, but in the meantime employers should be very careful when dealing with an employee who is between jobs within the organization.

damages, employment law, Galea v. Wal-Mart, moral damages, punitive damages, termination, termination without cause, termination without notice, wrongful dismissal

5 employment law predictions for 2018

December 20, 2017 Simon Heath, BA, MIR, LLB, Heath Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Penalties and Fines

What’s in store in 2017 for HR and payroll

‘Tis the Season and 2017 is coming to a close. With this, I am predicting some of the trends to follow from an employment law perspective of 2018. Here are 5 trends to follow in the new year.

aggravated and punitive damages, damages, employment law, employment law predictions, equal pay for equal work, marijuana, sexual harassment, termination clauses, terminations

Top 10 employment law cases of 2017

December 20, 2017 Jeff Dutton, Dutton Employment Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

Here is a list of the cases which changed employment law in Canada in 2017 (in no particular order). Note that some of these cases are not yet published on CanLII and therefore, there is no link available.

damages, Dismissal, employment law, inconvenience damages, mental distress, mental health, sexual harassment, termination

Employers beware: Punitive damages for improper just cause allegations

November 28, 2017 Jeff Dutton, Dutton Employment Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Penalties and Fines

Two recent Small Claims Court cases demonstrate the courts’ willingness to sanction employers for improper just cause allegations. These cases highlight the fact that employers need to be cautious in asserting just cause.

bad faith, damages, damages for wrongful dismissal, employment law, improper just cause allegations, just cause, punitive damages, termination, wrongful dismissal

Talking damages: Put your money where your mouth is

August 4, 2017 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Penalties and Fines

When it comes to human rights cases, awards for general damages are often less than $10,000, even though the $10,000 cap on general damages was removed almost a decade ago.

bad faith damages, bad faith termination, damages, Doyle v. Zochem Inc, employment law, harassment, human rights code, Keays v. Honda Canada Inc, moral damages, punitive damages, sexual harassment, termination

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

July 20, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Source Deductions and Reporting, Training and Development, Union Relations

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: how an employee’s decision to retrain affected his right to damages after termination, improvements to CRA services for small and medium businesses and union-friendly changes to the certification process included in Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act.

Bill 148, CRA, damages, duty to mitigate, employment law, Payroll, temporary help agency, termination, unfair labour practice, union, union certification

The damages formerly known as Wallace – Are they still relevant?

July 7, 2017 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

It has been about eight years since the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Honda Canada v Keays, which dramatically altered the law with respect to damages relating to bad faith conduct in the course of dismissal. Is the topic still relevant? A recent Ontario decision confirms that it is.

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Departing employees gone rogue

June 19, 2017 Rubin Thomlinson LLP Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security

The business consequences of departing employees gone rogue were recently highlighted in Prim8 Group Inc. v Tisi. In that case, an officer and director of Prim8 Group Inc. (Tisi) resigned from his employment to set up a competing business. Two days before his resignation, Tisi removed electronic equipment from Prim8’s premises, some of which contained proprietary information, and refused to return it. Shortly thereafter, another employee resigned from Prim8 without notice to join Tisi’s competing business.

damages, departing employees, Employee resignation, employment agreement, employment law, exit strategy, general duty of good faith and fidelity, reasonable notice

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

June 15, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: Court of Appeal upholds award to constructively dismissed McDonald’s manager; Employer proves it accommodated employee’s disability to the point of undue hardship; and Employer’s LMIA application denied due to lack of “genuineness” of job offer.

accommodate disability, constructively dismissed, damages, employment law, Labour Market Impact Assessment, LMIA, termination, workplace accommodation

Bad facts make bad law (for employers): Court recognizes new tort of harassment #learnthelatest

June 13, 2017 Stringer LLP Conferences, Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

Learn the Latest at the Ontario Employment Law Conference

The Ontario Superior Court recently recognized a new tort that would allow employees to sue their employers for harassment in civil court. To find out more about how the new tort of harassment in the employment law context, register to Learn the Latest® at the Ontario Employment Law Conference on June 20, 2017.

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OHSA in wonderland: Through the looking glass

June 13, 2017 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Penalties and Fines, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

If an employee alleges a violation of section 50 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”) then the employer must prove there has been no violation. This is called a reverse onus clause which means an employer must prove it did not violate OHSA. After a brief summary of the remedies that are available to employees under section 50 of OHSA, this blog discusses three recent cases.

aggravated damages, damages, disciplining an employee, employment law, health and safety complaints, lost wages, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, reinstatement, termination, workplace harassment, wrongful dismissal, wrongful dismissal damages

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

June 8, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: Ontario Employment Standards Act reforms underway; employees awarded $15,000 each in moral damages against employer; and upcoming employment and labour law changes in Alberta.

Bill 148, Bill 17, Changing Workplace Review, damages, employment law, employment standards act, employment standards code, Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act, Labour Relations Code, unpaid overtime, wrongful dismissal

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

June 1, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia 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

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: Changing Workplaces Review final report; employee wrongfully dismissed awarded $46,000 in damages; and employer successful in challenging worker’s entitlement to cost relief.

Changing Workplaces Review, Changing Workplaces Review final report, Cost Relief, damages, employment law, wrongful dismissal

Disability and termination under the Human Rights Code

February 27, 2017 Kevin Sambrano, Sambrano Legal Services HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation

Under the Ontario’s Human Rights Code (the Code), an employee cannot be terminated due to a disability. If the Human Rights Tribunal finds that the termination was based in part or in whole on a disability, this may be considered a breach of the Code. The matter was addressed in one of the first Tribunal decisions of 2017, Ben Saad v. 1544982 Ontario Inc.

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