The Supreme Court of Canada recently issued two decisions that found that Quebec’s pay equity legislation, which was intended to ensure equal pay for men and women, is unconstitutional. Quebec (Attorney General) v. Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux The Quebec government amended the Pay Equity Act in...
Continuing the recent trend reported in prior e2r® Alerts, on April 9, 2018, the BC Government introduced Bill 6 – Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2018, which proposes to amend the BC Employment Standards Act. In particular, it proposes to amend certain existing leaves of absence as well as introduce 2 new unpaid leaves. Changes employers...
Do you have employees working from home? Have you ever contemplated ending this arrangement? If so, it may not be as simple as you think! At the end of 2017, the Ontario Superior Court confirmed that taking away an employee’s ability to work from home was a significant factor in determining whether she had been...
The reach of provincial privacy legislation is ever expanding, as evidenced by a recent decision from B.C’s Privacy Commission requiring a company to disclose the job applications of a group of unsuccessful applicants. By way of background, the B.C Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) governs the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by private...
Over the last several months, the Liberal government in Quebec has reiterated that reform to the Act respecting labour standards (the “Act”) was coming. On March 20, 2018, Quebec’s Minister responsible for Labour, Dominique Vien, presented Bill 176: An Act to amend the Act respecting labour standards and other legislative provisions mainly to facilitate family-work balance (“Bill”)...
If you thought you could get away with major discrepancies between your employees’ compensation, think again. Ontario has now proposed a “pay transparency” bill which, if passed, will require employers to track and report compensation gaps based on gender or other various diversity measures. If passed, the bill would include the following: Publicly advertised job...
A record breaking monetary award in the Ontario decision of Galea v. Wal-Mart Canada Corp. proves that employers need to follow their employment agreements with employees, or else they may find themselves paying a hefty price. Ms. Galea was hired by Wal-Mart Canada Corp. (the “Company” or “Wal-Mart”) in 2002 as District Manager-in-Training. In a...
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision confirms that a claim of vicarious liability against a company by a third party is not necessarily a one-way ticket to compensation. In Ivic v. Lakovic (2107 ONCA 446), a taxi driver was accused of sexually assaulting a passenger in his car. The alleged victim sued the taxi...
Third party litigation funding is becoming more commonly used in Canada, allowing claimants to pursue litigation when they otherwise may not be financially able to do so. In such circumstances, a litigation funder and the claimant will enter into an agreement under which the funder agrees to pay for all or for a portion of...
In the Berger v. Benson Group Inc. decision, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice highlighted to employers the importance of making appropriate inquiries and giving adequate consideration to available options to accommodate disabled employees. The employee worked as a shipper/receiver and counterperson at one of the employer’s auto parts stores for fifteen (15) years. In...