In Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held that the termination provisions of a fixed-term employment contract were illegal and unenforceable because...more
3/12/2024
/ Canada ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Fixed-Term Labor Contracts ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
On November 7, 2023, Prince Edward Island (PEI) introduced Bill 106, An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act (Bill 106) for First Reading. Bill 106 proposes to increase dramatically the paid sick leave to which employees...more
11/17/2023
/ Canada ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Standards Act ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
On November 14, 2023, Ontario introduced Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023 (Bill 149), for First Reading. If passed, Bill 149 would, among other things, amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), the Workplace...more
On October 26, 2023, Ontario’s Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023 (Bill 79) received Royal Assent and came into force. The statutes amended by Bill 79 include the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), the Occupational...more
In 2022, Canada saw significant statutory and case law developments in labour and employment law, some of which related to COVID-19. This Insight provides an overview of key 2022 developments, with links to more detailed...more
1/5/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements
Deemed IDEL No Longer Available -
In May of 2020, Ontario filed O. Reg. 228/20, which provided that a non-unionized employee who did not perform their job duties during the “COVID-19 period” because their work hours were...more
8/10/2022
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Layoffs ,
Ontario ,
Wage and Hour
In the spring, Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022, received Royal Assent and became law. Among other things, Bill 88 amended Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to require certain employers to ensure, within a...more
On April 11, 2022, Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022 received Royal Assent and became law. As previously discussed, in addition to enacting the new Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, 2022 (DPWRA), Bill 88 amends the...more
On February 18, 2022, Ontario’s Your guide to the Employment Standards Act (Guide) was updated to include two new chapters that provide guidance on recent amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) that first...more
Eligible Workers in British Columbia Entitled to Five Days of Paid Sick Leave Beginning January 1, 2022 -
On November 24, 2021, British Columbia announced that beginning January 1, 2022, workers covered by the province’s...more
On October 25, 2021, Ontario announced the introduction of Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, 2021 (Act) for First Reading. If passed, the Act would amend Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) and other statutes in...more
In Russell v. The Brick Warehouse LP, 2021 ONSC 4822 (The Brick Warehouse), on a motion for summary judgment in a wrongful dismissal action, the court awarded $25,000 in moral/aggravated damages because the employer breached...more
7/22/2021
/ Breach of Duty ,
Canada ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Without Prejudice Privilege ,
Wrongful Termination
Last May, the government of Ontario filed Ontario Regulation 228/20 (IDEL Regulation) under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). The Regulation provides that an employee in a non-unionized workplace who, any time during...more
5/4/2021
/ Canada ,
Common Law Claims ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Layoffs ,
Ontario
As we entered a new decade in 2020, Canada saw significant developments in labour and employment law, some of which related to COVID-19. This Insight provides an overview of 14 key 2020 developments, with links to more...more
1/8/2021
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Standards Act ,
False Light ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Invasion of Privacy ,
Layoffs ,
Leave of Absence ,
Relief Measures ,
Tort ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Subsidies Schemes ,
Wrongful Death
The Ontario Superior Court recently issued a decision in Sewell v. Provincial Fruit Co. Limited, 2020 ONSC 4406 (Sewell), applying the reasoning set forth in the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) decision, Waksdale v. Swegon...more
10/7/2020
/ Canada ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Just Cause ,
Ontario ,
Termination Clauses
On July 24, 2020, Ontario’s new Bill 195, Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020, became law. In accordance with Bill 195, Ontario’s Emergency Declaration has ended (subject to the provincial...more
8/18/2020
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Orders ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Layoffs ,
Leave of Absence ,
Ontario ,
Subsidies ,
Wage and Hour
On May 29, 2020, the government of Ontario filed Ontario Regulation 228/20 (Regulation) under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). The Regulation amends layoff and constructive dismissal rules exclusively under the ESA,...more
In Teamsters Local Union 847 v Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, 2019 CanLII 95328 (ON LA), a part-time restaurant employee in Ontario, Canada with two years’ seniority was discharged from her employment because her...more
1/28/2020
/ Absenteeism ,
Arbitration ,
Attendance ,
Canada ,
Collective Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Filing Grievances ,
Food Service Workers ,
Labor Regulations ,
Ontario ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Teamsters ,
Termination ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Ontario: Amendments to Employment Standards Act and Labour Relations Act -
New Legislation Enacted -
Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018, received Royal Assent on April 3, 2019, and amended the...more
7/23/2019
/ Canada ,
Domestic Violence ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Sexual Harassment
Among other things, the Fair Workplaces Better Jobs Act, 2017 (Bill 148) significantly amended Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). Most of Bill 148’s ESA amendments came into force in 2018, with the remainder to...more
4/19/2019
/ Adoption ,
Appeals ,
Canada ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
New Legislation ,
Parental Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Securities Fraud ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Undue Hardship ,
Whistleblowers
As previously reported, the Special Advisors to the Government of Ontario, Canada released their interim report on July 27, 2016 on ways in which the Ontario Labour Relations Act (“LRA”) and Ontario Employment Standards Act,...more
9/23/2016
/ Canada ,
Employees ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Independent Contractors ,
Interim Guidance ,
Joint Employers ,
Misclassification ,
Ontario Labour Relations Board ,
Subcontractors