With news almost every week of another marijuana dispensary raided by the police, Ontarian’s have asked, can the Ministry of Labour enforce employment standards (i.e. notice of termination, overtime, etc.) in favour of individuals who work at these criminal enterprises?

In short, yes. There is simply no exemption in the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”) which exempts individuals who perform work for a criminal enterprise. Although the ESA has many broad exemptions for whether someone is an “employee” covered by employment standards, it does not, however, exempt individuals working for a criminal enterprise.

The statutory interpretation maxim of “implied conclusion” supports a finding that the ESA applies to an individual who performs work for a criminal enterprise. An implied conclusion lies whenever there is reason to believe that if the legislature had meant to include a particular thing with its legislation, it would have referred to that thing (i.e. criminal activity) … Continue reading “Are employees of a marijuana dispensary protected by employment standards?”