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.
Read the rest of this post »Friday, July 30th, 2010
Every year we are asked if the first Monday in August (also referred to as Civic Holiday or Simcoe Day in some jurisdictions), is a public holiday under Employment Standards legislation. Well it depends. This year, Civic Holiday/Simcoe Day/First Monday in August falls on August 2, 2010.
Read the rest of this post »Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Elsa Torrejon was diagnosed in early 2009 with breast cancer. After telling her employer about her illness and requesting an indefinite leave to receive treatment for breast cancer, she found herself dismissed and fighting for her human rights.
Read the rest of this post »Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
I am often asked by HR Managers and other supervisory personnel how long an employee can be off work due to illness before he is deemed to have abandoned his position. Many HR people question whether they have to retain the opening indefinitely where there is no reliable prediction as to when an employee will return to work. The issue is important in that…
Read the rest of this post »Monday, July 19th, 2010
We’ve heard a bunch of stories over the past year about companies firing or not hiring employees, or challenging their claims of illness, over inappropriate online behaviour, particularly comments and photos posted on Facebook and other social networking websites. While the media have made a big deal of these cases, none has had the profile of CNN’s recent firing of Middle East correspondent, Octavia Nasr. The US news giant felt Nasr had compromised her credibility by publicly tweeting her respect for a prominent Islamic cleric on his death. The Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah had ties to controversial political action group Hezbollah.
Read the rest of this post »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…
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, July 1st, 2010
First, we at First Reference would like to wish everybody a happy and safe Canada Day! Second, several laws in various jurisdictions are coming into force today. They are…
Read the rest of this post »Monday, June 28th, 2010
Now that the big do is over, and the security fences are coming down in Toronto and Huntsville—hopefully—let’s take a moment to reflect on how all the hubbub of the G8/G20 summits affected local businesses.
Read the rest of this post »Monday, June 21st, 2010
So it’s practically summer and I can’t help thinking of the days off I’ll be taking here and there, the chunk of vacation time I still have left and the various long weekends remaining. (But I don’t let my daydreams affect my work!) I might not have a lot of vacation days left, but I’m sure going to use them.
Read the rest of this post »Friday, June 18th, 2010
Are your employees suffering from the “World Cup Flu”? Are you finding that there is an unusually high rate of absenteeism in your office these days?
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
The question of whether an employer should give reasons at the time of dismissal is an important one in employment law…
Read the rest of this post »Friday, June 11th, 2010
I was recently reading an issue of SafetyNewsAlert, which indicated that there were over 20 attempted suicides over one year in a single Chinese technology factory—one that manufactures products for Apple, including the iPad, among other things. Out of the 20 attempts, 9 suicides were successful within a period of five months. According to the article, questions are being raised about the sustainability of China’s manufacturing model, which relies on long hours from its workers. Typical workweeks include seven days of twelve hours.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Making the decision to dismiss an employee for just cause and litigating a wrongful dismissal claim on the basis of summary dismissal are two different things…
Read the rest of this post »Monday, May 31st, 2010
Have you ever had a vacation that was just long enough? At the end of a week off, have you ever thought, “That was perfect, and now I can’t wait to get back to work”?
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Just how far does an employee have to go for their behaviour to constitute cause for dismissal in employment law? The advice I generally give is that, short of outright dishonesty or criminal conduct, it is extremely difficult to prove cause.
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