A recent arbitration decision – ICBC v. MoveUP (Canadian Office and Professional Employees’ Union Local 378) (Mundy Grievance) – highlights how sick leave abuse by employees could be cause for termination, even when employees work from home. By way of background, a unionized employee, who was working from home, requested the Saturday of the August long weekend...
In a surprising decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the court recently reduced an employee’s common law reasonable notice period by two (2) months due to her failure to properly mitigate her damages. By way of reminder, upon termination, employees have a responsibility to look for alternative employment – often referred to as...
The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a company to pay significant damages after terminating an employee who made a sexual harassment complaint. The employee, a sales associate for a medical equipment supplier, began receiving comments from the Company’s founder regarding her appearance. Despite asking the founder to stop, he persisted and eventually the employee...
Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) received royal assent on June 3, 2021 introducing a new federal statutory holiday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The Bill, which was first introduced September 29, 2020, intended...
Ontario employers with a payroll of $2.5 million or more are required under Section 64 of the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) to pay statutory severance pay to terminated employees who have five or more years of service. In Hawkes v Max Aicher (“Hawkes”) the Divisional Court overturned an earlier Ontario Labour Relations...
Recently we sent out an Alert outlining how the current Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”) could be considered constructive dismissal at common law. Well there appears to be a disagreement about whether that is in fact the case. In the just released Taylor v. Hanley Hospitality Inc. decision (the “Hanley Hospitality Decision”), Justice Ferguson held...
The Ontario government has once again extended the deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”), which had been set to expire on July 3rd, 2021, and now will end on September 25, 2021. This is good news for employers who have employees on this job-protected leave and are not prepared to bring them back in the...
British Columbia Following in Ontario’s footsteps, British Colombia now requires employers to provide employees with up to three paid sick days where they stay home for the following reasons: Diagnosed with COVID-19 Waiting for COVID-19 test results Need to self-isolate or self-monitor Following a public health order Directed to stay home by the employer because...
Good news for Ontario employers who were wondering how to seek reimbursement for the paid sick days mandated back in April. The government has finally updated their website to include a button to claim the paid sick days. For details related to the program please refer to our e-alerts here and here. The link for...
A recent Ontario case (Coutinho v. Ocular Health Centre Ltd.) has confirmed what most employment lawyers had suspected – placing an employee on a deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”) can constitute a constructive dismissal at common law. By way of reminder, deemed IDEL is essentially a temporary layoff due to COVID-19 reasons (i.e. when...