In a recent case, Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, the Ontario Superior Court relied on a new argument regarding the validity of a termination clause in a fixed-term employment contract. Ultimately, it was found that the termination clause did not comply with the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000...
In a recent case out of British Columbia, Lefebvre v. Gisborne Holdings Ltd., an employer learned two hard lessons. First, you should always have an early termination clause in a fixed term contract and secondly, an emotional reaction to an email and subsequent allegation of just cause may not hold up in court. The employer...
Over the last few months there has been an increase in phishing emails/texts/calls targeting everyone, including employees while at work. While employers can take proactive IT steps to limit these attacks, some will get through – especially if they target the employee’s personal phone or email. We have some suggestions to help protect you and...
As you are aware, when determining common law reasonable notice periods, courts generally assess the typical factors such as the employee’s age, length of service, income, character of employment and the ability to find comparable employment. Usually, a lengthy period of employment will skew common law reasonable notice awards upwards, however, judges have taken to...
Happy New Year! As we move in to 2024, we’ve highlighted below some important legal decisions in employment law last year: Giving Consideration to Oral Agreements In Dornan v. New Brunswick (Health), 2023, a New Brunswick labour adjudicator considered whether oral discussions between Dornan and his former employer, Horizon Health Network, prior to the commencement...
There appears to be a recent trend, perhaps reflective of court backlogs and a frustrated judiciary, whereby employers who are overly aggressive, make false claims or decline a reasonable settlement offer, are being punished by the courts. In the Ontario wrongful dismissal case of Giacomodonato v. PearTree Securities Inc., 2023, the court took severe offence...
Further to our last Alert, here are some additional legislative updates that employers should be aware of. Working For Workers, 2023 On October 26, 2023 the Working for Workers Act, 2023 received Royal Assent and is now in force. Among a whole slew of changes the following are the most notable: Mass Terminations – Remote...
British Columbia: Pay Transparency Act The British Columbia Pay Transparency Act took effect on November 1, 2023. As a reminder and further to our previous e2r Alert! in June, this legislation applies to all provincially regulated employees in British Columbia and aims to enhance transparency around compensation. Beginning November 1, 2023, all employers in British...
ONTARIO (but maybe other jurisdictions!) No conversation about a without cause termination would be complete without discussing…. notice! As a refresher, unless an employee is being terminated for cause (or wilfull misconduct in Ontario), they are entitled to statutory, contractual or common law reasonable notice of termination depending on the contract. This notice can be...
Managing an employee resignation can be challenging, especially when it comes as a surprise. It is important that employers take the correct steps to ensure that departures occur smoothly, from both a practical and legal perspective. Notice of Resignation Under many provincial employment standards statutes employees are required to provide their employers with a specific...