employment relationship

Devil’s in the detail or employment contracts redux*: The twelve most common avoidable drafting errors

February 27, 2020 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, Wages and Compensation, 0

Employment contracts should be reviewed and revised on a periodic basis. Courts have routinely found that a contract will not be upheld or enforced unless it reflects the reality of the employment relationship.

conditions of employment, Employee resignation, employment agreement, employment contract, employment law, employment relationship, fixed-term employment contract, fresh consideration, termination, termination clauses of an employment contract, written contracts of employment

Work is work: Duration of dependent contractor status to be included in notice calculations

December 20, 2019 Devan Marr Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Wages and Compensation, 0

In the recent decision of Cormier v. St. Joseph Communications, the Court of Appeal upheld a motion judge’s finding that when calculating reasonable notice periods, an employee is entitled to include the duration of time they were an dependent contractor. This case highlights the risks posed by evolving employment relationships and the importance of drafting legally defensible termination clauses.

dependent contractor, economic dependency, employment law, employment relationship, independent contractor, reasonable notice period, termination clauses of an employment contract, wrongful dismissal claim

Informal work should still be governed by “formal” employment contracts

December 17, 2019 Piccolo Heath LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation, 0

There is certainly no “one size fits all” model when it comes to a written employment contract. The agreement doesn’t need to be long or complicated… or “formal”, but it is perhaps naïve in today’s work environment, including in the “gig economy”, to believe that the good natured feelings present at the beginning of the work relationship will always be there, or that you’ll part ways with a temporary or short-term employee on good terms in every instance; or to believe that everyone is in agreement as to just how “independent” the employee is.

employment contract, employment law, employment relationship, gig economy, independent and dependent contractors and employees, piecework, short-term employment contracts, terms of employment, vacation time and pay, written contracts of employment

Common law reasonable notice of termination for independent contractors?

May 31, 2019 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

In the recent decision in Cormier v 1772887 Ontario Limited, an Ontario Superior Court judge stated that in some circumstances it would be reasonable to consider an employee’s years of service as an independent contractor in calculating his or her common law reasonable notice period.

contracts, dependent contractor, employment law, employment relationship, independent contractor, pay in lieu of notice of termination, pay in lieu of reasonable notice, reasonable notice of termination

Supreme Court of Canada confirms that all workplace harassment is protected – even by third parties

January 5, 2018 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights

In British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal v. Schrenk, 2017 SCC 62, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that human rights legislation is to be interpreted broadly and purposively and specifically found that the protection against workplace harassment is not limited to conduct perpetrated by an individual’s employer or co-worker. This decision will have significant implications for employers and employees alike.

all workplace harassment is protected, employment law, employment relationship, harassment, human rights, workplace harassment

“Asking for trouble”: BC Human Rights Tribunal considers whether interview questions crossed the line

November 13, 2017 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring

The interview process can be a legal minefield for employers. One false step, one inappropriate question can give rise to a human rights complaint alleging that the employer has discriminated against the prospective employee.

ancestry, BC human rights tribunal, characteristics protected under the code, Citizenship, discrimination, discrimination with respect to employment, employment law, employment relationship, ethnic origin, family status, hiring, Human rights complaint, interview process, Interview questions, job interview, protected grounds of discrimination, recruiting

Update on probationary clauses from Ontario Court of Appeal

September 1, 2017 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

Recently, the Ontario Court of Appeal affirmed that the probationary clause, which provided, simply, “Probation…six months”, was enforceable, and that the employee was not entitled to anything more than the one week of pay in lieu of notice of dismissal pursuant to the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”).

common law entitlement, common law reasonable notice, employment agreement, employment law, employment relationship, employment standards act, entitlements on termination, Ontario Court of Appeal, pay in lieu of notice, probationary clause, probationary clauses, probationary employee, probationary period, reasonable notice

Dishonesty in hiring process constitutes cause for dismissal

August 23, 2017 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring

A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has confirmed that, in certain scenarios, an employee’s dishonesty in the hiring process will constitute cause for dismissal. In this case, the plaintiff’s claim for wrongful termination was dismissed when the court found that the plaintiff’s omission on a security questionnaire amounted to dishonesty that went to the core of the employment relationship and was irreconcilable with sustained employment.

breach of trust, dishonest employee, employment law, employment relationship, hiring, hiring process, termination, termination for cause

Employers: Be careful of what you say about former employees to their new employers

July 25, 2017 Jeff Dutton, Dutton Employment Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring

Be careful of what you say about former employees to their new employers, warns Toronto employment lawyer, Jeff Dutton. As evidenced in Drouillard v. Cogeco Cable Inc., if a former employer suggests to another employer to terminate a certain employee, the former employer could be liable for damages to that employee by way of the tort of inducing breach of contract.

blackballing, breach of contract, damages for termination, employment contract, employment law, employment relationship, former employees, termination notice

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.

bad faith, bad faith dismissal, bad faith termination, damages, damages arising out of bad faith, damages arising out of the manner of dismissal, Dismissal, duty to act in good faith, employment law, employment relationship, Keays v. Honda Canada Inc, Mulvihill v. Ottawa (City), notice period, Supreme Court of Canada, termination, terminations, The Damages Formerly Known as Wallace, Wallace damages, Wallace v. United Grain Growers

Employee engagement in the modern workplace

June 14, 2017 Lisa Stam, Spring Law Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, Training and Development, Wages and Compensation

The modern workplace requires innovation, agility and creativity when it comes to employee engagement, learning and development, how to accept and embrace the high turnover, gig economy, and how to stop generalizing generations. Few would disagree that an organization will only grow and thrive when it can figure out how to engage all individuals, not just certain demographics or generations.

attracting talent, employee morale, employment law, employment relationship, feedback, modern workplace, peer mentoring, retaining talent, termination

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

May 11, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Penalties and Fines

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: Repeat violators from 2016 blitz; whether employer-employee relationship existed; and Labour force survey, April 2017.

blitz, employer-employee relationship, employment law, employment relationship, employment standards act, ESA, labour, labour force, unemployment, unemployment rate

Former employee successfully sued for defamation for Facebook posts

March 31, 2017 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Union Relations

In recent years, careless, or let’s say, less than sensible comments on social media have gotten countless employees in trouble with their boss. Employees who have used Facebook as a forum for posting threatening language and vile insults about a supervisor or offensive accusations about the company they work for have quickly been shown the door; and arbitrators and labour boards are often prepared to uphold these dismissals.

defamation, employee Facebook posts, employment relationship, facebook, Facebook posts, Servant c. Ritchie, social media

Employee motivation is the key to higher retention rates

March 13, 2017 Beyond Rewards Inc Employee Relations, Human Resources, Training and Development

Employee morale and employee retention go hand in hand. If employees do not feel motivated at work, they will most likely start to look for a new job elsewhere. Tracking employee morale is essential for measuring retention rates within a company. The only precise way to measure employee morale is fairly easy: ask the employees directly.

employee morale, Employee motivation, employee productivity, employee retention, employee turnover, employment law, employment relationship, maintain employee morale, retention, transparent communication

Probationary periods in Canada: Are they legal?

January 18, 2017 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation

Probationary periods in employment… for something seeming so simple, they still cause a lot of confusion, and employees and employers alike are frequently mistaken about the legality of probationary periods and how they apply to the non-unionized worker. Employees who are terminated during probationary periods often accept their lot without ever receiving legal advice, while employers often terminate ‘probationary’ employees without providing any compensation, only to be surprised by a demand letter or civil action claiming wrongful dismissal. So where do these challenges come from? And how can they be remedied?

Cao v. SBLR LLP, employment law, employment relationship, employment rights, employment standards act, probationary periods