Payroll

Wrongful dismissal update: Judge upholds just cause termination for a 30 year employee who touched a co-workers buttock

February 11, 2020 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Training and Development, 0

After a 10 day trial, an Ontario judge recently concluded that touching a female’s buttock in the presence of four witnesses, who had conflicting versions of what happened, was just cause for termination for an employee with 30 years’ service who had a clean disciplinary record.

#MeToo movement, employment law, harassment in the workplace, just cause, Just cause termination, sexual harassment

Full and final release upheld by the HRTO

February 10, 2020 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

For employers, one of the primary purposes of a full and final release is to prevent the former employee from pursuing legal action against the employer.

Dismissal, employment law, full and final release, termination, termination package

Full and final: Human rights application successfully barred by signed release

February 7, 2020 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

In recent years, one of the recurring circumstances where the efficacy of a signed release has been debated is where a former employee files an application with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

discrimination in employment, Dismissal, employment law, Employment release, mental health, releases for dismissed employees, termination of employment

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

February 6, 2020 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Wages and Compensation, 0

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with workplace discrimination, payroll and safety blitzes in Ontario.

discrimination based on race, earnings and hours, employment law, ethnic origin, machine guarding hazards, race and colour, Safety blitz, safety blitzes, Workplace discrimination

Managing and addressing workplace developments caused by the spread of Coronavirus

February 5, 2020 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, International HR Law, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Privacy and Security, Standard for Customer Service, Standard for Employment, Standard for Information and Communications, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation, 0

Many employers are starting to ask questions about the legal framework within which they can prepare, manage and address developments and potential issues caused by the spread of the Coronavirus.

Coronavirus, employment law, pandemic planning, risk management, Workplace emergency response

The effect of signing a severance package

January 31, 2020 Jeff Dutton, Dutton Employment Law Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

Question: Can employees get out of signed severance packages?

employment law, severance package, unconscionable agreement, wrongful dismissal claim

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

January 30, 2020 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with remote work options, wrongful dismissal and drug and alcohol testing.

drug and alcohol testing, employment law, remote work arrangements, remote working, safety-sensitive workplace, work from home, wrongful dismissal

Fired because of race? Consider a human rights claim

January 29, 2020 Devry Smith Frank LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

In 2018, a group of eight Caucasian employees of the Spruce Hill Resort and Spa Ltd. (“the Resort”) in British Columbia made a complaint to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (“the Tribunal”), in which they alleged that they had been terminated from their employment because they were not Chinese. The Tribunal found that seven of the employees had been discriminated against on the basis of race and colour, and one employee had been discriminated against on the basis of sex.

discrimination based on race, discrimination based on sex, employment law, poisoned work environment, sexual harassment

Release of previous employer has no effect on termination by subsequent employer

January 27, 2020 Barry B. Fisher LL.B. Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

In Manthadi v ASCO Manu (2019 ONSC 5572) Fowler Byrne J. had a situation where a 64 year old welder had over 36 years with Company A. Company A sold its business to the Defendant. Company A paid the plaintiff her 8 weeks under the ESA and she signed a release. The defendant immediately hired her on the closing date. She was terminated a few months later.

common law notice, continuous employment, employment agreement, employment law, termination

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

January 23, 2020 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Health and Safety, Human Resources, Payroll, Source Deductions and Reporting, 0

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with revised WSIB policies, updated CRA tables, forms and guides, and workplace safety inspections.

employment law, federal basic personal amount, rate-setting model, safety inspections

When worlds collide – The evolution of employment law principles in the termination of independent contractor relationships

January 20, 2020 Sean Bawden Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, 0

To my mind, what Barresi demonstrates is that the line between employment law principles and “independent contractor” commercial law principles continues to blur. As the nature of what it means to be “employed” continues to evolve, so too must the law.

breach of contract, contract law principles, employment contract, employment law, employment law principles, independent contractor, just cause dismissal, repudiation of the employment contract, termination

Unfair Investigation? No Comment.

January 15, 2020 Rubin Thomlinson LLP Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Training and Development, 0

We are now in a world where workplace harassment is taken much more seriously than it was before. Although some jurisdictions in Canada do not have an explicit legal obligation to investigate incidents of this nature, there is now a pressing moral obligation to do so. But when such a moral obligation is unmoored from legal principles or government-issued guidelines, there is a greater risk of unfairness to all parties. An investigation in this context is more likely to be guided by an emotional drive to either undermine those who raise complaints or persecute those who are alleged to have behaved badly, rather than arriving at factual findings from a neutral perspective using a fair investigation process.

employment law, external investigator, workplace complaints, workplace harassment, workplace investigations

When #TimesUp goes on trial: Key Takeaways from a judge’s decision following a sexual harassment investigation

January 14, 2020 Piccolo Heath LLP Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

Although stories of workplace sexual harassment were pervasive as we closed the last decade, it was uncommon to see any of these cases make it all the way to trial. Early (and confidential) settlements with the accused are the norm, and trials are rare.

#TimesUp, employment law, sexual harassment, sexual harassment investigation, workplace investigation, workplace sexual harassment, wrongful dismissal claim

So what exactly is a “dependent contractor”?

January 10, 2020 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, 0

I have often commented on the widespread misclassification of workers and, more specifically, the common practice of treating a worker as an Independent Contractor when they are really an employee in all but name.

dependent contractor, employment law, independent contractor, termination, worker classification