Uncategorized

We spend long hours at our workplaces. That, coupled with plenty of social time at happy-hours, retirement parties and team-building social activities, makes workplaces optimal environments for relationships to flourish, be they platonic or romantic. Office romances are inevitable. The legal implications of engaging in an office romance, however, are complicated. There are important consequences that employees and employers should understand when faced with an office romance, depending on the nature of the relationship and the employer’s policy.  Nature of the Relationship  Recently, Mcdonald’s fired its CEO over a relationship he was having with an employee. The board of directors…

In Nemeth v Hatch Ltd, 2018 ONCA 7, the Ontario Court of Appeal added a lot of uncertainty to the already confusing task of interpreting termination clauses in employment agreements. Employees have both common law and statutory entitlements to notice of termination without cause. Many employers try to limit their employees’ entitlements to the minimum amounts of notice required by the Employment Standards Act (ESA), or to another amount that is less than the reasonable amount of notice at common law. To do so successfully, the employer must clearly specify some other period of notice that meets the minimum entitlements…

Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act received Royal Assent in the Ontario legislature on April 3, 2019, putting into effect several changes to Ontario’s employment laws. These added to the amendments that the Ontario government had made to the Employment Standards Act (the “ESA”) only months earlier through the passing of Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act. Both bills have resulted in changes to Ontario’s employment legislation that reflect the current government’s employer-friendly inclination. Although the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act impacted various pieces of legislation, the changes most relevant to the average non-unionized employee will likely be those…

When someone is terminated, they are generally entitled to reasonable notice at common law or pay in lieu thereof. In Canada, courts determine what the reasonable notice period is in any given case based on the Bardal factors, which include character of employment, length of service, age, and availability of similar employment having regard to the experience, training and qualifications of the employee. However, other considerations may also come into play.  In Fraser v Canerector Inc, 2015 ONSC 2138, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice included an additional factor in its decision – the time of year. Mr. Fraser had…

On November 29, 2019, Bill Peters resigned as head coach of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. This came four days after Nigerian-born Akim Aliu alleged that Peters used racial slurs towards him 10 years ago when Peters coached him on the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. Subsequently, allegations of physical abuse were made by other players formerly coached by Peters. Given that NHL head coaches are often terminated suddenly when their teams underperform, many wondered why it took four days for his tenure with the Flames to come to an end. The likely answers to many peoples’ questions offer a good review of…

Most employment contracts contain a termination clause that defines an employee’s rights to notice, severance, or termination pay in lieu of notice. Termination clauses are almost always drafted in favor of the employer by limiting notice periods to statutory minimums contained in the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”). In the absence of such a clause, or where the clause is present yet unenforceable, the employee is owed more generous common law notice, which is approximately one month for every year of service. Accordingly, the validity of a termination clause can have significant financial ramifications on both the employer and the employee.  Enforceability of termination clauses can…

In the #MeToo era, more people are speaking up about workplace sexual harassment, and employers are feeling pressure to develop better methods of addressing it. However, the problem has far from disappeared, partly because there are limited forms of recourse available to victims. Those available generally involve holding employers responsible for how they address instances of sexual harassment. This strategy is limited in its effectiveness and fails to adequately address the harm to the victim. A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision is an example of how the law gives leeway to employers that generally benefit sexual harassers. Further, it…

Most contracts are written in dated legalese that even the most seasoned lawyer can struggle to comprehend. Where one party to an agreement is less sophisticated and holds less power, and the other party (that likely drafted the contract) yields more power, courts will look to confirm that the less sophisticated party understood the agreement they were signing off on.  Courts are especially vigilant to circumstances where the lesser party bore an amount of risk that was significantly higher than the benefit they gained. A good example is a loan guarantee. A guarantor may not understand the document, and may…

When an employee is terminated without cause, he or she is generally entitled to reasonable notice or pay in lieu thereof. The employer is required to pay the employee all of the regular compensation that he or she would have received during the notice period. Regular compensation means more than base salary – it includes benefits such as non-discretionary bonuses and stock option plan entitlements. Many employers attempt to limit entitlements to such benefits by including clauses in incentive and bonus agreements that require “active employment” for the agreement to remain in effect, or that extinguish benefits upon an employee’s…

Whether you are classified as an employee versus an independent contractor is important for several reasons. For one, employees are entitled to statutory benefits and protections under the Employment Standards Act (ESA), such as minimum wage, notice of termination, severance pay and overtime pay. Independent contractors enjoy no such entitlement to ESA benefits and protections. In late 2017, the Ontario government amended several aspects of the ESA through the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, also known as Bill 148. Particularly notable was Bill 148’s tightening of the law with respect to classifying people as independent contractors. For employers who classified…