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影子员工—— 因Covid-19而延长临时裁员时长的问题

By 官话

坐在家里,你一直盯着手机,等待雇主的回电或短信。一周、一个月……。然后,恍然大悟,你被老板的忽悠了。 依据法律规定,Covid-19 期间,员工不因工作时间或工资减少或取消在而被视为解雇。 通常情况下,依据《就业标准法》(ESA)第56条,如果上述情况在连续20周内发生超过13周,雇员被视为自动终止工作。 现在,因Covid-19原因的延期期限将于 2021 年 1 月 2 日到期(追溯从 2020 年 3 月 1 日开始),之后将再次适用标准 ESA 规则。 劳工、培训和技能发展部长 Monte McNaughton声明:“解雇和遣散费的成本可能使企业无法生存和重新开业。这就是为什么我们采取行动,确保企业生存下来,让工人们重返工作岗位。  政府的初衷无可厚非,但是,公众更担心此规定和超长休假对雇主的行为和员工的权利的影响。 根据 ESA 和普通法,解雇并获得遣散费本是员工的一项权利。 部长将其解读为对企业和经济的损害,这着实令是一个令人担忧的声明,尤其是在公众更关注就业安全的时候。 解雇和遣散费概念基于合理通知。无故解雇员工时,雇主只有三种选择。 雇主可以书面通知雇员,其工作将提前终止,劳动关系将在指定日期结束。但雇主不得更改雇员的工资、福利、权益或其他雇佣条款。这是法律意义上的工作通知。 另一种选择是,雇主可以向雇员提供相当于他们在通知期内应得的工资。其中包括福利和如果他们仍在工作就会得到的所有权利,如养老金缴款。雇主在解雇通知发放的同一天结束劳动关系。这就是所谓的代通知金。 最后,雇主可以选择使用上述两种选择的组合,前提是两者的总和符合ESA的最低强制性规定。 根据《综合就业计划》第57条规定,通知金的标准数额以员工的工作时间为依据。特定的情况下,还有额外的代偿通知金额。大多数员工也有权根据普通法获得通知,这一比例往往要高得多,普通法通知基于许多因素,如工作年限、雇员年龄、工作类型,以及是否有相似的就业机会。这些因素表明,通知代偿金根本目的是为员工提供足够的收入来维持他们的生活,直到他们找到替代工作。 任何时候,雇员和雇主之间都应以最大善意真诚相待。 如果临时裁员期间,雇员仍受雇于雇主,此种情况应定义为减少或取消工作时间或工资,而不是法律意义上劳动合同的暂停或终止。 在召回员工或增加他们的工作时间的过程中,雇主依然必须以诚待人。 违反此义务的示例包括, 如果雇主雇佣了新员工来履行被解雇员工的职责,即使是部分职责,该临时裁员将不再是“由于员工患有规定传染病”,这种临时裁员应定义为非出于善意。 如果雇主在召回员工的过程中存在歧视, 即由于年龄、性别、种族、残疾或《人权法》 (OHRC) 中规定的其他任何因素,拒绝员工重返工作岗位,这种临时裁员应定义为非出于善意 雇主不得以员工之前或现在因OHRC、ESA 或《职业健康与安全法》的投诉为由决定推迟召回员工。 那将是一种非法的报复行为。 请谨记,我们讨论的临时裁员只能出于与Covid-19相关的原因。尽管疫情的巨大影响涉及社会的方方面面,但如果任何裁员都以此为借口,该临时裁员就可能会受到质疑。 如果雇佣之初员工就被警告裁员的风险,也因此雇佣双方没有签订合法有效的雇佣合同,那么裁员本身就是一种推定性的解雇。虽然O. Reg 228/20也载有与Covid-19临时裁员有关的推定性解雇条款,但推定性解雇比ESA第56 (c)条的规定的自动终止条款复杂得多。 如果您因 Covid-19 而导致工作时间或工资减少,或者您的雇主如何召回员工有疑虑,联系De Bousquet PC律师事务所,您将会有意想不到的收获。  

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面对失业,三件事情需谨记

By 官话

加拿大最高法院前首席大法官迪克森1987年曾说: 失业是一个可怕的过程。 如今,任何人想在社会上谋生并上发挥一技之长,那么工作将成为他生活中不可或缺的要素,职业也成了个体自我认同、自我价值和幸福感的重要组成部分。 生计、日常及对未来的期许等许多方面都和工作紧密相连。失业对大部分人来说,至少意味着自我价值观或社会认同感的部分消失。 “我能做些什么来避免这种情况吗?” “我是个坏员工吗?” “我能找到另一份工作吗“”这些问题时时萦绕在失业者的脑海。失业是一个非常脆弱的人生阶段, 用加拿大最高法院法官 Iacobucci 的话来说,“雇佣关系破裂的时刻是员工最脆弱,因此最需要保护的时候。” 让问题更加复杂,更加不具确定性的是,雇主一般不会告知您什么时候,因为什么被解雇。但失业不可避免地导致您财务状况不稳定。为此,De Bousquet PC 律师事务所给您三个提示。 无须惊慌 失业带给人的恐惧与慌张,就像现代社会的人突然看到一只猛冲过来的剑齿虎。恐惧加速人体内皮质醇大量分泌,这种过多的“逃跑或战斗“”的荷尔蒙常常导致人们做出错误的决定。 切记,您无须与您的经理或人力资源代表发生争端(战斗)。 任何攻击性行为都会让事情变得不可控制。由于争吵然,您可能会不假思索地“愤怒地签字”,亦或拒绝考虑任何建设性的提议。 逃跑也是如此,大多有此想法的人往往会为了摆脱糟糕状况而轻易签署“离职协议”,或者匆忙终止会议。 当尘埃落定时,他们甚至都不知道自己曾经做了什么。 鲜为人知的是“战斗或逃跑”的第三部分,即 “惊呆(发懵)”。 就像突然被汽车探照灯照着的鹿,瞬间惊呆或反应迟钝和麻木。 无论哪种情形,处于懵懂迷茫状态下的员工很难记住发生了什么,签署了什么或同意了什么。 因此,面对解雇,员工必须保持冷静镇定,以确保: 获取尽可能多的信息 当你被解雇时,你要明确:解雇生效日即工作的最后一天;如果是因故解除劳动关系,您需要明确知道解雇的原由、所依据的合同条款及遣散费金额。。 劳动关系终止时,雇主通常会赔付法定最低限额的赔偿金,当然,如果您同意签署放弃劳动仲裁的弃权协议,雇主会额外支付一笔费用。该费用在弃权协议上常常被表述为“我们非常乐意”,“作为您对公司巨大贡献的感谢”。其实,这都是谎言,否则为什么要解雇呢? 根据合同法,有效的合同需要支付对价,但合法权益是您固有的权利,如果雇主希望您放弃某种权利,他们也必须支付对价。然而,金钱永远无法购买您的权利,尤其是普通法赋予您的权利。 当您被因故解雇时,雇主通常不会明示原因,理由是出于他们的“善意”、“恩典”,这样您的雇佣记录就会保持干净,因此您就有权享受失业保险的福利。 举个例子来说,如果我说我有证据证明你欠我 $ 50,000,你可以拿你的车来抵债,但我不出示证据, 你会不会认为我在抢劫呢? 即使雇主明示了您被解雇的原因,并列出了清单,请把它把它交给律师。因为并非所有因故解雇都无需支付赔偿金,法院这方面的判决也很多。例如,在 Attzs v. Saputo Dairy Products Canada G.P. 案中,原告在乳品厂被拍下吸电子烟,尽管该行为违反了食品安全法及公司政策,但其并不足以导致被解雇。  一旦您获得了上述信息,您需要: 约见您的律师 如果一名员工因为在牛奶和奶酪配送仓库吸电子烟,且有视频为证,该工人在被调查时也承认了这一点,该员工因此被解雇。您如何定义此解雇呢? 该解雇为因故解雇; 该解雇为无故解雇。 这就是您需要联系De Bousquet PC 律师事务所的原因。 如果您已被解雇或工作中遇到什么问题,请立即致电416-616-5628,本所律师将竭诚为您提供法律服务。

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薪金员工有权获得加班费吗?

By 官话

是的,有权。 无论您的薪资是多少,薪资是按小时,单周,双周或按月支付,依据《就业标准法》(“ESA”)第 VIII 部分,您有权依法获得平时加班费和公共假期加班工资。 薪资制度的有好处在于,员工将不再有被安排轮班却无从知晓工资的情况发生。同时 ,如果雇主致力于建立长期的雇佣关系,薪资也一定程度的暗示着工作保障。  然而,部分员工存在一个严重的误解,即因获得了薪资,他们将无权再获得加班费。通常,其现任或前任雇主也这样告知他们。 另一个误解是,受薪雇员也无权获得公共假期加班工资。 与小时工一样,受薪雇员如果在该公共假期工作,则有权获得公共假期加班工资。 事实上,这种剥夺薪金权利的观念根本经不起推敲。 截至 2020 年 10 月 1 日,我们的最低时薪为 $14.25 ,即每小时雇主应支付的最低工资。 如果你每周工作 44 小时并获得$ 30,000 的年薪,那么你的工作时薪为 $13.11 。 ESA 第 23 (4)(a) 条明令禁止此种规避最低工资的做法。 第 23 (4)(b) 条与 23 (4)(a) 条规定类似,但涉及加班。 受薪雇员有权获得加班费。 加班费以工资和正常工作时间计算,是每小时日常工资1.5倍。 以员工每周工作44小时获得工资$ 45,760年薪 为例。 如果该员工改为工作 50 小时,其每周有权获得$ 180加班工资。 如果这种情况在两年内每周都发生,那么该员工已被雇主欠薪约$18,000 。 为此,该员工应依ESA 提起诉讼索赔,代理律师可以帮助员工了解整个司法过程并进行索赔。 雇佣律师进行索赔两个主要好处。主营劳动合同法的律师事务所以此类业务为日常工作;而其中许多律师又是这方面的专家。上例中,除加班费外,员工还可以额外获得$720的公众节假日加班工资。 很多时候,雇主会以强制员工休假替代支付加班费。简单来说,就是把加班费转换成带薪假期。但此操作需严格遵守的相关法律规定,例如需员工书面或电子签名方式签署该转换协议,休假时长也必须与加班费相匹配。即每 1 小时的加班时间相当于1.5 小时的带薪休假时长。 在上例中,员工或将每周得到一个带薪假期。 尽管大部分员工有权获得加班费,但也有例外,法律规定医生、律师、工程师、牙医等专业人员不受加班费和最低工资限制。原因在于,此类专业人员报酬丰厚,他们是成熟的法律践行者,深谙薪资谈判规则。且多数情况下,他们以按时计费提供服务。 而最常见和最有争议的例外是公司管理层薪资。法律假定公司经理和主管像其他专业人士一样,都是老练的法律践行者,他们的高新已经包括了额外工作时间。 当公司熟知加班费的法律规定,并意识到他们一直在向员工撒谎时,雇主将经常加班员工在工作范围及职权并未发生变化情况下虚假晋升为“经理”。因为经理们不享受加班费,不记录工作时长。此种规避加班费方式使得未来的索赔更加困难。 这是一种更加复杂和隐晦的规避加班费的方法, 因为员工职位描述与实际工作完全不符。负责ESA执法人员和安省劳资关系委员会也对此心知肚明。 如果您是一位每周工作时长超过44小时而从未享受过加班费的薪资员工,请立即致电416-616-5628,联系De Bousquet PC律师事务所律师。

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Can Time Spent as an Independent Contractor Factor into Reasonable Notice of Termination Calculations?

By Employment Law

At common law, both employees and dependent contractors are entitled to reasonable notice of termination or payment in lieu thereof. In determining the length of the reasonable notice period in any particular case, courts will look at the Bardal factors, which include: character of employment, length of service, the plaintiff’s age, and the availability of alternative employment. Generally, “length of service” is given a significant amount of weight. Until recently, “length of service” was generally assumed to refer to time spent as an employee or dependent contractor. However, a recent decision by the Court of Appeal for Ontario has raised…

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Allocating Payments in a Wrongful Dismissal Action

By Employment Law

As some regular readers may know, an overwhelming majority of wrongful dismissal claims never end up proceeding to trial. Instead, they settle out of court without ever being adjudicated. When considering the vast resources, time, energy and stress involved with litigating a claim, settlement often makes the most sense. Were a matter to proceed to trial, it means that the dispute would end up on the public record. Very seldomly will a party wish for its dirty laundry to be aired out in the public forum, especially where claims of bad faith are made, or where the employee was fired…

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Overtime Pay Case 12 Years in the Making a Big Win for Non-Unionized Employees

By Employment Law

In June 2007, a representative Plaintiff named Dara Fresco commenced a class action on behalf of some 31,000 customer service employees who had worked for CIBC between 1999 and 2009. The claim was titled Dara Fresco v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. It was eventually certified by the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Ms. Fresco’s central claim was that CIBC’s overtime policies and record-keeping systems contravened the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”) and, as a result, thousands of front-line bank employees were not compensated for the overtime hours they worked. Section 174 of the Code provides that when an employee…

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What Remedies Can You Seek if you File an Employment Standards Complaint

By Employment Law

Let’s say that you are owed a commission from your former employer. Or, you may be owed overtime by your current employer. Or, perhaps your employer hasn’t paid you equal pay for equal work. All these scenarios are addressed by Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “Act”) – which sets out employees’ minimum statutory rights and entitlements. Section 74 of the Act also protects employees from retaliatory measures being taken against them by the employer for invoking their rights under the Act. For instance, terminating an employee or reducing their work hours in reprisal for their attempts to exercise their…

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What Are Trial Periods During Constructive Dismissal Claims?

By Employment Law

If an employer unilaterally alters the fundamental terms of an employee’s working conditions, the employee is entitled to object to the change and consider their employment as having been terminated. This is called constructive dismissal. Constructive dismissals often arise from significant changes to an employee’s pay structure, a geographical transfer, a demotion, and significant changes to job responsibilities. However, other circumstances can also result in a fundamental breach of the employment relationship. For instance, constructive dismissal claims can materialize from an intolerable workplace. If an employer wants to maintain flexibility while mitigating the risk of a constructive dismissal claim, it…

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Mediation and Its Growing Role in Legal Dispute Resolution

By Employment Law

Mediation is a dispute resolution process where an impartial third party called a “mediator” assists disputing parties in resolving conflict using specialized communication and negotiation techniques. A mediator canvasses the legal issues with parties and attempts to manage parties’ legal positions and expectations so that parties are more likely to settle. All participants in mediation are encouraged to actively participate in the process. Mediation is a “party-centered” process in that it is focused primarily upon the needs, rights, and interests of the parties. Superior Court of Justice Cases Chances are, if you are suing your former employer for wrongful dismissal in…

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Legal Options for Unionized Employees

By Employment Law

Many unionized employees reach out to our office intent on suing their employer. Due to their unionized status, these employees have limited legal options and find themselves in a unique legal predicament, since they cannot sue their employer in court. Supreme Court decisions have held that individuals whose employment relationships are governed by a collective bargaining agreement are precluded from resolving their disputes through the courts. The Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Weber v. Ontario Hydro confirmed that arbitration clauses such as those contained in Ontario’s Labour Relations Act, 1995 give labour tribunals such as the Ontario Labour Relations Board (“the…

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Preventing Discrimination Based on Genetic Information

By Employment Law

We live in a time of rapid technological advancements, and that includes the field of biotechnology. As services that provide commercial genetic screening become more widespread and affordable, peoples’ genetic information is becoming more accessible. This information includes genetic predispositions to physical characteristics, personality traits, and disorders, to name a few. Unfortunately, this opens up the possibility of people being assessed and responded to based on their genes. Federal and provincial governments are aware of this possibility. They have begun taking steps to protect people from discrimination based on their genetic characteristics. In Ontario, Bill 40, the Human Rights Code…

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