Following last week’s e-Alert, where we noted that Alberta was expanding its unpaid personal and family responsibility leave to include getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the province has now changed course and will allow for three hours of paid time off to get the jab. This has already taken effect. As a recap, Saskatchewan and Alberta...
British Columbia has become the second province (joining Saskatchewan) to provide a new job-protected leave for employees getting the COVID-19 vaccine. In particular, this new leave allows employees to take unpaid time off work to get the COVID-19 vaccine themselves or to take dependent family members to get vaccinated. The B.C. government concurrently announced in...
In a further effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, Quebec’s workplace safety board (CNESST) has now made it mandatory for masks to be worn at all times in the workplace. This will also apply to those who do outdoor work when a 2-meter distance cannot be maintained. Note that the masks worn in the...
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....