The new Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017, which was scheduled to come into force on July 1, 2018, has been PAUSED by the Government of Ontario. As discussed in our e2r Alert on June 21, 2018, the purpose of this new legislation was to expand on the restrictions found in earlier pieces of legislation which prohibit...
A recent interim decision by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) on May 18, 2018 has the potential to significantly impact an employer’s ability to terminate employee benefits after the age of 65. Currently, the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Ontario Employment Standards Act Regulations permit a distinction between employees under the age...
On June 12, 2018, Quebec’s National Assembly adopted Bill 176: An Act to amend the Act respecting labour standards and other legislative provisions mainly to facilitate family-work balance. The amendments to the Labour Standards Act include changes pertaining to equal pay for equal work, vacation, bereavement leave, personnel agencies and sick leave. Particularly noteworthy are the...
On July 1, 2018, the new Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017 (“SFO Act”) will come into force. This piece of legislation repeals and replaces the Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2015 and the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. The purpose of this new legislation is to expand on the restrictions found in earlier pieces of legislation which prohibit the use...
Among other recently proposed changes to Quebec’s labour laws was a private member’s bill which, if passed, would require employers to implement an after hours’ policy allowing employees to disconnect from work communications. If passed, Bill 1097 would require employers to establish a policy outlining weekly periods when employees are entitled to disconnect from all...
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”)...