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A controversial subject in the workplace is nepotism. This article from our wrongful dismissal lawyer in Toronto will answer some...

When an employee is terminated without cause, they are offered a severance package. While many people believe that common law...

To help millions of Canadians, the Federal Government started the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program, which provided recipients with...

It is a commonplace for employers to include restrictive covenants in employment contracts in order to try and protect their...

When someone is hired, there is an agreement between the employer and the employee. This agreement sets out the terms...

  As the worst of the Pandemic moves further into our rearview mirror, more employers are asking their employees to...

Employees terminated after being employed for a short period of time commonly believe they are entitled to a small severance...

As of October 11, 2022, all employers in Ontario with 25 or more employees must now have a written policy...

An unfortunate part of life is dealing with the passing of family members. Thankfully in Ontario, the law allows employees...

A common question that employees have is if they can record their conversations in the workplace. There are several reasons...

A common issue terminated employees have is that they may have left their employer for a period of time and...

The minimum wage is one of the most talked about employment laws, as it is something that overtly affects so...

According to our wrongful dismissal lawyer in Toronto, there is a growing list of decisions in the labour context that...

Almost all employment contracts include a termination clause. Yet, not all termination clauses are enforceable. The consequences of this can...

Now that Labour Day has passed, the expectation is that more Employers will continue to request that their employees return...

What is the remedy for a retaliatory discharge due to an employee raising a health and safety issue? Thompson v....

If you’ve lost your job recently, it is strongly recommended to maintain a log of your efforts to find new...

In an unjust dismissal case, the presumptive remedy an adjudicator can award is reinstatement with back pay. However, under certain...

A common complaint from employees (and their family and friends) is that they cannot seem to get away from work,...

It is fair to assume that if one behaves poorly, their actions are more likely going to result in poor...

As Canada continues to move further away from the worst of the pandemic, it is likely some employers may begin...

The presumptive remedy for unjust dismissal is reinstatement with back pay. When tackling the appropriate remedy to award, adjudicators begin...

Vaccine related decisions continue to be made as we move closer to the halfway point of 2022. We have discussed...

In an earlier blog post, we discussed the potential for courts to increase the notice periods awarded to employees where...

In an earlier blog post, we discussed the possibility of employees rescinding, or “taking back”, their resignations. Much of that...

Workplace violence, as defined under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, includes not only physical violence but also statements...

In a 2021 decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court, Verigen v Ensemble Travel Ltd., an issue was raised regarding...

Over the last two years, the global COVID-19 pandemic has facilitated significant changes to the way Canadians work. Workplaces have...

In an earlier blog post this year, we looked at a case suggesting that unions that are unsuccessful in challenging...

In a recent decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court, Justice Branch was tasked with determining whether or not “the...

Many employees might believe that because they never physically signed their written employment agreement, it does not apply to them....

In November 2021, the Ontario government passed the Working for Workers Act, 2021, new legislation that, among other things, prohibits...

In Lawton v Syndicated Services Inc., the Alberta Provincial Court upheld a termination clause in an employment contract that limited...

This decision concerns the termination of a public sector employee and the interplay between two pieces of legislation: the Federal...

We have encountered a great deal of arbitration decisions relating to COVID-19 vaccination in the early days of 2022. Most...

On March 7, 2019, Mr. Czerniawski had an argument with a co-worker. The encounter quickly became heated. Emotions were high,...

It is well known that employment contracts of an indefinite period (i.e., not fixed term contracts) give rise to a...

In the event of a termination without cause, employees are generally entitled to a reasonable notice period. The purpose, of...

An arbitration decision released January 12, 2022 has joined the persistently growing list of decisions upholding COVID-19 vaccination mandates, as...

In Jean-Sébastien Leroux v. Proex Inc., 2022 ONSC 319, an employee made a mistake that no employee should make: they...

When considering the duration of an employment relationship, there are two primary options: either the employment period is for a...

As mandatory vaccine policies continue to be implemented in workplaces across Ontario, many unionized employees are under the impression that...

Did the employee abandon their employment, or was their employment terminated by the employer? That was an essential question in...

On January 4th, only four days into the New Year 2022, Arbitrator Robert J. Herman released a decision regarding a...

A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court, Campbell-Givons v. Humber River Hospital, like many others over the past year,...

In Canadian employment law, not all employees or dependent contractors are alike. Some, by virtue of their high position with...

Generally speaking, a wrongfully dismissed employee has a duty to mitigate their damages by seeking alternative employment. If they are...

The Canadian Industrial Relations Board has released new decisions concerning the “managerial exception” found in section 167(3) of the Canada...

In a recently released decision, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal was tasked with determining whether or not an employer, the...

We often think of an employee’s old age as being a very commanding consideration in the determination of reasonable notice...

In a recent decision, the Federal Court refused to grant an interlocutory injunction against a COVID-19 vaccination policy. The Applicants...

Throughout the previous year, we have seen many workplaces adopt controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandates. To some, it is a necessary...

In a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court, popular personal injury law firm Sokoloff Lawyers won an injunction against...

McGuinty v. 1845035 Ontario Inc. (McGuinty Funeral Home) is a case unlike many others, in the sense that it involved...

Employers should expect to provide some compensation to employees they terminate without cause. The amount of compensation depends on a...

Ms. Saunders was an agency sales representative with WestJet, her employer. She was terminated from this position on July 29,...

I wrote a blog post this past August discussing the potential impact of Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments on...

This recent decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court touches on a fundamental principle of contract law: that a contract...

Not long ago, the Ontario decision Kraft v. Firepower Financial Corp. demonstrated the willingness of courts to award higher notice...

On September 7th, 2021, the Toronto Transit Commission announced its mandatory vaccination policy. According to this policy, employees or dependent...

In early November, 2021, Arbitrator John Stout was tasked with deciding whether or not the mandatory vaccination policy introduced by...

It was recently announced that, as of January 1st, 2022, British Columbia will be the first and only province in...

The Consequence of Failing to Mitigate, Even During the COVID-19 Pandemic In recent Ontario decisions, terminated employees have been awarded...

Currie v. Nylene Canada Inc. : Reasonable Notice Beyond 24 Months It is generally understood in the world of employment...

No Injunction to Prevent Dismissal in Mandatory Vaccine Case   In the first of inevitably many Ontario court proceedings concerning...

  The Right to Disconnect: New Ontario Legislation Ontario has recently proposed new legislation aimed towards giving workers the “right...

The Long Haul to Work: Are you Entitled to be Paid for your Commute? For some very fortunate employees, it...

No Apology, No Job – A Serious Approach to Sexual Harassment at Work The Ontario Court of Appeal recently upheld...

Reasonable Notice: Length of Service Does Not Require Mathematical Certainty In determining reasonable notice of termination periods, courts today continue...

Labour Arbitrator Has Exclusive Jurisdiction Even Over Human Rights Complaints A recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada found...

The Relevance of Employee Sophistication on the Enforceability of “Just Cause” Termination Provisions A recent decision by the Ontario Superior...

A popular legal issue in recent years concerns the employment status of workers in the “Gig” economy, such as Uber...

The federal government passed legislation in June, 2021 recognizing September 30th as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The...

With mandatory vaccine policies becoming more and more common in all different kinds of employment settings and possibly employment contracts...

Secure Resources Inc., the employer in a recent Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench decision, had been granted an Anton Piller...

Over the past two years, Canadians have seen much larger and more frequent protests than in previous years. In 2020,...

The “changed substratum doctrine” presents one way an employee can defeat the terms of their employment contract. In a recent...

An employee who has been wrongfully dismissed and is entitled to reasonable notice at common law will be compensated based...

In the recent Ontario decision Kraft v. Firepower Financial Corp., a dismissed employee was awarded a higher notice period due...

Ideally, productive mediations lead to settlements. Unfortunately, mediations can sometimes take a very long time. It isn’t surprising that after...

The legal process is complicated. When you aren’t familiar with it, it’s easy to make mistakes. Some of these mistakes...

“CannonDesign maintains the right to terminate your employment at any time and without notice or payment in lieu thereof, if...

As of September 22, 2021, the Ontario government is requiring individuals to prove they are fully vaccinated in order to...

As of September 2021, our country is continuing to slowly reopen. As part of that slow reopening, we have seen...

It is common for those who are leaving their jobs and seeking new employment to ask their former employer to...

I Need a Vacation! What Are My Rights? Everybody needs a break once in a while. Maybe work is just...

It is generally well understood that an employer ordinarily cannot fire you without providing you with either reasonable notice or...

Age discrimination, otherwise referred to as ageism, can arise in a number of ways in the workplace. Ageism arises wherever...

Commonly, our workplaces become the places where we spend most of our time. The majority of our day is spent...

Apart from receiving damages for wrongful dismissal, a dismissed employee also stands to benefit where aggravated and punitive damages are...

At common law, employers do not have a duty to investigate allegations of misconduct prior to dismissing an employee. However,...

An employee who is terminated without cause from their job is generally entitled to receive either reasonable working notice or...

You do not need to sign an employment contract in order to work in Ontario. However, it is also not...

Abandonment occurs where the words or actions of an employee, viewed objectively, would lead a reasonable person to conclude that...

Many employees ordinarily receive a bonus in addition to their base salary. If such an employee is terminated from their...

Although approximately 67% of Canadians are fully vaccinated as of August 2021, the Government of Canada is aware that COVID-19...

Ideally, you would never resign from a job unless you were absolutely sure that you wanted to. But mistakes happen....

If your employment has been terminated without cause, you are entitled to either a notice period or to pay in...

Duty to Mitigate Overview Once dismissed, an employee assumes the duty to mitigate. This means they are expected to minimize...

In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Canadian government introduced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). The goal was to...

It is hard to imagine a time where a steady income is more important than when you are bringing a...

Employment contracts are complicated documents. They need to be just right. Any mistake, however small, could potentially be catastrophic. Entering...

That’s it – you’ve had enough. You’re ready to quit your job. You know you’re supposed to tell your employer...

As an employer, you will come to find that there are many different kinds of employees. Some are hardworking, reliable,...

Even if you are happy with your current job, a day might come where you must choose between the job...

Toxic (or “Poisoned”) Work Environments If you are working in an environment where you believe you are the victim of...

What is Insubordination? Insubordination, or disobedience, occurs where an employee intentionally refuses to obey an employer’s lawful and reasonable order....

If you have been terminated without cause, you will be eligible to collect Employment Insurance (“EI”). If you were terminated...

How many hours per week can your employer expect or require you to work? How many hours per day? These...

In a recent decision of Coutinho v. Ocular Health Centre Ltd., 2021 ONSC 3076, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that...

Employers include termination clauses in the employment contracts to limit employees’ termination entitlements once they are dismissed from work. However,...

In the decision of North v. Metaswitch Networks Corporation, 2017 ONCA 790, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) reaffirmed the...

With the Covid-19 pandemic dragging on, employers have to resort to restructuring and downsizing their business operations to stay afloat...

In the recent decision of Czerniawski v. Corma Inc., 2021 ONSC 1514, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that...

In a recent decision of Nahum v. Honeycomb Hospitality Inc., 2021 ONSC 1455, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that pregnancy...

In the decision of Battiston v. Microsoft Canada Inc., 2020 ONSC 4286, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that...

In 2020, the Ontario Court of Appeal held in Waksdale v Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391 that if...

With the rampant growth of the Covid-19 cases, there are more and more employees who have unfortunately contracted the virus...

As vaccination roll-out has been implemented across the country to combat the spread of Covid-19 and reduce the community transmission,...

If one of your beloved family members has fallen sick due to the resurgence of Covid-19 cases, you may consider...

Employers have taken initiatives to downsize their businesses due to the economic downturns caused by the rampant Covid-19 cases. Therefore,...

Employers have an obligation to provide a safe work environment free from dangers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act....

In this blog, we will explore some common issues that a fix-term contract employee may have in their employment relationship....

Termination vs. Layoff Terminations and layoffs are not the same concept in law. While many people may use these terms...

Employees are facing new challenges in their workplace due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this blog, we would like to...

With the covid-19 pandemic rules set in place for over a year, quite a few people have been considering whether...

Recently, a number of Canadian politicians and high-profile officials at the corporations either had to step down from their office...

The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped the traditional working styles and reimagined the roles of offices in the...

It is important for federal regulated employers to be aware of the newly introduced administrative monetary penalties under Part IV...

The severity of the Covid-19 pandemic has exerted a huge impact on the Canadian economy, forcing employers to scale down...

A Guidance on How to Recall Employees to Work from a Temporary Layoff With the community transmission of Covid-19 cases...

Taking Clients From Former Employers It is common for employers to restrict their employees’ ability to work for a competitor...

About Infectious Disease Emergency Leave  Employees are entitled to take infectious disease emergency leave if they are not performing job...

Illegal Interview Questions Employers can hire a job applicant according to their personal preferences. However, when it comes to asking...

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) stipulates that employers have a duty to protect their employees from health and...

From outright discrimination to workplace bullying, employees can be harassed in a number of ways at work. It is important...

Generally, the law provides some protection to employees when the employer wants to fire them. For example, the Ontario Employment Standards...

A constructive dismissal is where an employer makes a substantial change to the terms of an employee’s employment without the...

Employees nowadays are worried about getting back to work, given the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic. They are afraid of...

9 Most Popular FAQ about Wrongful Dismissal  1. Does my written employment contract encompass all my rights? In Ontario, all...

If an employee is sick, incapacitated or hurt physically for any reason, they can take days off work. The days...

Sometimes, after an employee is constructively dismissed or terminated, the employer later offered them a job at the same company....

COVID-19 has brought about significant impact on Canadian economy and therefore resulted in considerable instability in the labour market, and...

Since 2016, the Government of Canada has been making improvements to the Employment Insurance (EI) program, in order to better...

3 BASIC RIGHTS OF WORKERS IN ONTARIO-WHAT YOU MUST KNOW Every person employed in Ontario has the right to work...

5 SIGNS YOU ARE IN A POISONED WORKPLACE All employees have the right to work in an environment free from...

List of Rules Which Apply to Ontario Employers in Cases of Mass Termination Pursuant to section 58(1) of the Employment...

What is Reinstatement Reinstatement can occur under certain circumstances where an employee who has been terminated is entitled to resume...

What is Workplace Suspension Work suspension occurs when an employer relieves an employee of their duties, but the employment relationship...

An employer does not need a good reason, or any reason at all, to terminate an employment relationship. However, the obligations of the employer and what is owed to the employee after termination depends on whether an employee was terminated “with cause” or “without cause.”

 Guide on How to Terminate an Employee for Poor Performance Under the Canadian jurisprudence, the threshold of terminating an employee...

Taking Clients From Former Employers A common issue when employees leave a company for a competitor or start their own...

Employees are usually terminated with two classifications. Either the termination is with cause or without cause. The latter is usually...

Employers cannot alter a fundamental term of your employment without first letting you know. If they do, they put themselves...

Different workplaces have differing expectations of an employee’s schedule of work. An employee who has been with a company for...

After a termination has occurred, employers are quick to offer their dismissed employees a full and final release to be...

In the case of Singer v. Nordstrong Equipment Limited, 2017 ONSC 5906, the court held that while the Plaintiff was...

The Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision and confirmed that courts will overlook the differing corporate structures utilized by...

A B.C. Court recently held that an employer did not have just cause to dismiss an employee even though the...

This article will explore what constitutes workplace discrimination, the relevant human rights legislation, the prohibited grounds of discrimination, the legal test for establishing a “prima facie” case for discrimination and some defences that are available for respondents.

This article will explore what constitutes workplace discrimination, the relevant human rights legislation, the prohibited grounds of discrimination, the legal test for establishing a “prima facie” case for discrimination and some defences that are available for respondents.

This article will explore what constitutes workplace discrimination, the relevant human rights legislation, the prohibited grounds of discrimination, the legal test for establishing a “prima facie” case for discrimination and some defences that are available for respondents.

This article will explore what constitutes workplace discrimination, the relevant human rights legislation, the prohibited grounds of discrimination, the legal test for establishing a “prima facie” case for discrimination and some defences that are available for respondents.

This article will explore what constitutes workplace discrimination, the relevant human rights legislation, the prohibited grounds of discrimination, the legal test for establishing a “prima facie” case for discrimination and some defences that are available for respondents.

This article will explore what constitutes workplace discrimination, the relevant human rights legislation, the prohibited grounds of discrimination, the legal test for establishing a “prima facie” case for discrimination and some defences that are available for respondents.

Section 5 of the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) protects from discrimination and harassment in the workplace, including on the basis of family status.

This article will explore what constitutes workplace discrimination, the relevant human rights legislation, the prohibited grounds of discrimination, the legal test for establishing a “prima facie” case for discrimination and some defences that are available for respondents.

Defamation, as a legal concept, requires three things to be established on a balance of probabilities before a comment is considered defamatory.

Employers have a duty to accommodate their employees. In Ontario there is legislative recognition of this duty under s.11(2), 17(2) and 24(2). The duty as stated in the Syndicat case is intended to “ensure that an employee who is able to work can do so”

The Ontario Divisional Court has upheld that the employer may terminate an employee with a disability when there is undisputed medical evidence that an employee will be unable to fulfill the essential obligations of the employment relationship for the foreseeable future and there are no accommodations that would allow the employee to work.

Bill 66 is a new bill in Ontario that will have very real consequences for employees. In particular, there are...

Sexual harassment is an unfortunately reality in today’s society, and workplaces are not immune. However, everyone has the right to...

The Superior Court of Justice awarded $1.3 million to a constructively dismissed employee who was on a fixed-term contract. This...

In the recent case Andros v Colliers Macaulay Nicolls Inc., 2019 ONCA 679, the Ontario Court of Appeal discusses entitlement...

In Andros, the Ontario Court of Appeal discussed the interpretation of a termination clause. There were discussions regarding ambiguity within...

Settlement privilege applies during settlement negotiations and could potentially extend to completed settlement agreements (Sable Offshore Energy Inc. v Ameron...

You may have heard the phrase “equal pay for equal work”. In Ontario, this means that an employer cannot pay...

In Ontario, an employer can terminate an employee for “just cause”, meaning they have a legitimate reason to dismiss them...

The ONCA dismissed the appeal of the Appellant (Defendant) in the case of Keenan v. Canac Kitchens, 2016 ONCA 79....

What’s the Difference? Businesses use a variety of different workers for varying purposes. Employees may be hired for indefinite or...

What is a Personal Services Business? A person services business (PSB) is a business operating as a corporation that provides...

What is a Dependent Contractor? A workers relationship generally falls into one of three classifications: employee, dependent contractor or independent...

Employers in Canada are bound under both federal and provincial legislation to provide reasonable notice or pay in lieu of...

Bill 66 is a new bill that was introduced in Ontario on December 6, 2018. Its official name is the...

If you have recently been terminated from your job, there is no doubt you will have questions. For example, you...

​A Toronto company is inviting legal trouble with an ad specifically seeking female applicants because the job involves receptionist work,...

​A Toronto company is inviting legal trouble with an ad specifically seeking female applicants because the job involves receptionist work,...

Rafael Ruffolo sits down with Stacey Ball, an employment lawyer with Ball & Associates. How to Get the Severance Package...