termination pay

Ministry of Labour inspections

October 9, 2019 Lisa Stam, Spring Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Payroll, Penalties and Fines, Pensions and Benefits, Wages and Compensation, 0

The Ministry of Labour has been busy implementing its Healthy and Safe Ontario Workplaces Strategy. Introduced by the previous Wynne government, the initiative has focused on small Ontario industrial businesses. A small business is one with fewer than 50 workers.

employment law, employment standards violations, Ministry of Labour, occupational health and safety act, Payment of wages, termination pay

Calculating severance: What do the courts say?

May 24, 2019 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

In the past I have written about the different factors that are considered in assessing severance for a termination. Being a lawyer, I also provided the standard cop-out that “there is no formula for determining reasonable notice or severance amounts”.

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OLRB rules that when it comes to severance it’s Ontario-based operations alone

March 18, 2019 Sean Bawden Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, International Payroll, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Wages and Compensation

In his application, Mr. Hawkes sought review of the January 25, 2017 decision of an Employment Standards Officer (“ESO”), who determined that he was not entitled to severance pay pursuant to section 64 of the Act.

employment law, severance, termination and severance pay, termination pay

Wrongful dismissal update: Recent case is a cause for concern

February 5, 2019 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

It is increasingly difficult for employment lawyers to assess an employer’s potential legal liability in connection with an employee termination.

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Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

May 31, 2018 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with police record checks, the notice period in termination clauses and new pay transparency legislation in Ontario.

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Ontario Court of Appeal addresses the issue of what constitutes mitigation income

June 2, 2017 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation

The Court addressed the issue of what constitutes mitigation income for purposes of assessing any required deductions from common law entitlements.

Brake v. PJ-M2R Restaurant Inc., employment law, mitigation, mitigation income, severance, Severance pay, termination pay

Probationary period clause gets employer into hot water

March 14, 2017 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation

Including a probationary period clause in an employment contract is not a good idea unless your organization is prepared to assess the suitability of the employee during the probationary period. Failure to do so can result in your organization being ordered to provide a probationary employee with common law reasonable notice of termination. This blog discusses one such case.

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Requesting background checks after employment starts

February 15, 2017 Simon Heath, BA, MIR, LLB, Heath Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

In a recent Ontario Superior Court decision it was held that an employer’s decision to request a criminal background check after employment had commenced was lawful under the applicable 12–month fixed term contract and the employee was not entitled to damages when her employment was terminated after she refused to consent to the background check.

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Employment contract oversight proves costly

February 13, 2017 Sara Forte Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation

As an employment lawyer, my consistent advice to employers is, whether you have one employee or one hundred employees, every employer needs to have written employment contracts. There are a number of ways that employment contracts can avoid or reduce liability, but the single most valuable term to include is a termination clause. In a written employment contract, employers have the opportunity to limit what can otherwise be a significant liability to their employees for termination pay, also referred to as severance or reasonable notice of termination.

Employee dismissal, employment contract, employment law, Munoz v. Sierra Systems Group Inc., reasonable notice, Termination clause, termination pay, wrongful dismissal

Termination clauses – The legal debate

November 4, 2016 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

It appears that the saga of judicial interpretation and consideration of termination clauses will continue, with predictably unpredictable results. Courts will enforce termination clauses that limit an individual’s entitlement to notice of dismissal, but the onus will be on the employer to show that the clause should be enforced.

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Ontario judge strikes down yet another termination clause

October 12, 2016 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

Some employment contracts have termination clauses which state that an employee will receive notice of termination “in accordance with the Employment Standards Act” or words to that effect. The purpose of this clause is to take away the employee’s right to common law “reasonable” notice of termination. In 2000 an Ontario Superior Court judge concluded that this kind of language meant that an employer was only required to provide the employee with the minimum notice of termination stipulated in the ESA. Advantage employers.

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Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

September 29, 2016 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Penalties and Fines, Pensions and Benefits, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: a case where an employer’s appeal to not pay unpaid wages and termination pay was somewhat successful; a matter where an arbitrator issued very different decisions when it came to two employees who grieved their terminations; and two cases that address employee entitlement to damages in lieu of a bonus on termination.

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Silence proves costly: employment agreements and reasonable notice

June 13, 2016 Vey Willetts LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Wages and Compensation

Employers who fail to incorporate a binding termination clause into their written employment agreements may face significant, and unexpected, liability for severance. This lesson was learned the hard way by Qualified Metal Fabricators (“QML”) in a recent case out of Toronto.

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Small claims court rules termination clause that violates ESA in future is unenforceable

April 14, 2016 Simon Heath, BA, MIR, LLB, Heath Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Wages and Compensation

This decision is another reminder to employers to ensure that termination clauses provide for all entitlements prescribed by the Employment Standards Act in order for them to be considered valid and enforceable. The company in this case should never have carved out its obligation to provide statutory Severance Pay.

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Employee whose contract is frustrated by terminal cancer entitled to termination and severance pay

October 26, 2015 Devry Smith Frank LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

It is clear from the relevant statutory and regulatory provisions under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 that an employee whose contract is frustrated on account of illness or injury is entitled to both termination pay and severance pay.

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