Monday, January 23rd, 2012
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.
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
Constructive dismissals are something that most employers are aware of, but many may not be aware that constructive dismissals are in fact very difficult cases for employees to win. This is illustrated by a recent case out of Nova Scotia, Gillis v. Sobeys Group Incorporated 2011 NSSC 443.
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
Most employers are aware that any dismissed employee has a duty to mitigate. Usually, this duty arises in the determination of an appropriate severance payment to an employee. Where an employee contests the severance, the duty to mitigate will undoubtedly apply as part of the matrix of calculations to be determined.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, October 13th, 2011
How do you measure turnover? Most people think they understand turnover. It is a simple and useful concept when it comes to understanding the flow of people through your organization. It is an important marker for determining overall organizational health and likely productivity impacts. If turnover is too high, your business stalls due to constant re-training; if turnover is too low, it can stagnate, leading to mediocre performance.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, August 25th, 2011
I have written in this blog and elsewhere, of the value in written employment contracts, written offers of employment, and written employment policies. Much like the break up of a marriage, the parties to the dissolution of the employment relationship often have widely divergent recollections of the understanding of the terms of the relationship when they were entered into. In particular,…
Read the rest of this post »Friday, July 15th, 2011
Consider this: you have encouraged your employee to use online social media during work time to build professional contacts to grow your business. The employee goes ahead and invests time during the workday visiting sites like Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook. This strategy proves to be positive; the contacts have been part of the business growth you have experienced. Then, your employee wants to leave the company and move on to another job. Can you, as the employer, ask for the contact information the employee accumulated during his or her employment?
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
I read an interesting case recently that could be considered controversial: an employer was permitted to contract out of its human rights obligations with some vulnerable employees who were at an economic disadvantage and who experienced significant language barriers. How did the employer accomplish this? The employer added a provision in its termination letter that offered the employees consideration in exchange for signing releases preventing them from launching a human rights complaint.
Read the rest of this post »Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision dealt with a number of issues arising from the dismissal without cause or notice of a Senior Vice President of an investment company. One of the more difficult issues addressed at trial, and considered by the Court of Appeal, was the trigger date for the right of the employer to re-purchase the employee’s two percent interest in the company.
Read the rest of this post »Friday, May 13th, 2011
Despite being one of the most basic and fundamental legal protections employers can have, many employers do not use written employment agreements when they hire new employees.
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, April 13th, 2011
I recently told you about the high school office assistant who was suspended with pay for making porn movies on the side—well, the school board has decided to terminate her employment.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Employers that dismiss employees without cause, and without ensuring that they take steps to preclude all potential claims, can face significant liability beyond the “typical” wrongful dismissal damages. The recent decision of Mr. Justice Echlin of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Brito v. Canac Kitchens is an example of the type of situation employer’s dread. In that case…
Read the rest of this post »Friday, February 18th, 2011
The mitigation of damages has become a hot employment law issue. In this recent British Columbia case, the employee was entitled to damages for wrongful dismissal after the employer terminated her during the economic downturn. Although the employer argued that the employee failed to mitigate her damages when she did not accept the employer’s subsequent offer of re-employment, the Court found that the uncertainty of work and payment was such that the employee did not act unreasonably when she declined the job offer. Thus, the employee was entitled to 12 months’ termination notice.
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, February 16th, 2011
It is not uncommon in smaller family run or closely held businesses to have a situation where a key employee is also a significant shareholder in the business. However, this can create significant issues if the relationship with the employee changes, particularly if the relationship deteriorates. This is because such employees are subject not only to employment laws, but also can take advantage of shareholder protections.
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
Dealing with disabled employees can be a vexing issue for most employers. A number of questions arise when an employee takes time off either temporarily or permanently due to a disability, whether physical or mental. These issues include:
Read the rest of this post »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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Leslie D Foreman:Andrew Taillon:
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