A recent Ontario decision provides a vital reminder to employers about the importance of an enforceable termination provision and the risks associated with terminating pregnant employees. In Nahum v. Honeycomb Hospitality Inc., a 28-year-old employee with only 4.5 months of service was terminated without cause; she was five months pregnant at the time. Unfortunately for...
Now that COVID-19 vaccines are slowly becoming available, employers have been questioning not only whether they can mandate the vaccine but what benefits they can provide (or have to provide) to employees getting the vaccine. Saskatchewan has become the first province to require employers to provide employees with up to 3 hours of paid time...
A recent B.C. case, Fobert v. MCRCI Medicinal Cannabis Resource Centre Inc., highlights the potential cost of handling an employee’s termination in a ‘vindictive and malicious way’. After a year and a half of employment and some corporate changes, Fobert’s position was no longer required. Despite Fobert’s employment agreement providing for 30 days’ notice of...
Is COVID-19 and its impact on the economy a factor our courts will consider when assessing common law reasonable notice? The answer: It depends. The recent decision of Yee v. Hudson’s Bay Company, an Ontario case, appears to suggest that the negative economic circumstances brought about due to the pandemic may increase an employee’s entitlement...
With the chaos of 2020 behind us, and a glimmer of hope on the horizon, what better time than the present to identify some organizational goals that are not related to the COVID-19 pandemic! Here are a few ideas of some strategic HR projects to shift your focus onto non-pandemic priorities: 1. Employment Agreements –...
Employers governed provincially and particularly those in Ontario have unfortunately become all too accustomed to courts deciding the termination provision in their employment agreements is unenforceable because it fails to meet the minimum standards set out in provincial minimum employment standards legislation. It now appears this highly scrutinized approach to employment agreements has found its...
A recent Ontario Labour Relations Board (the “Board”) decision confirms that employers will have to pay significant damages in the event an employee is terminated for raising health and safety concerns related to COVID-19. In Flores v. Scotlynn Sweetpac Growers Inc., the employer hired seasonal workers from Mexico every year to work on their farm....
As a follow up to yesterday’s e-Alert regarding Ontario’s second state of emergency, we wanted to share further information provided by the government late yesterday regarding what businesses are permitted to remain open as of 12:01 am Thursday, along with sector specific public health and workplace safety measures. That information can be found here, starting...
Today the Ontario government announced a second state of emergency and new restrictions to help stop the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The new restrictions come into effect at 12:01am on Thursday, January 14th and include the following: A new stay-at-home order will take effect, meaning everyone should stay home, with the exception of leaving for...
A recent Ontario Superior Court case confirms that refusing to apologize for alleged misconduct does not automatically equate to just cause for termination. In Hucsko v. A.O. Smith Enterprises, a female employee alleged that a senior male co-worker harassed her by making a series of inappropriate comments on four different occasions. During the employer’s investigation,...