Wrongful dismissal in Ontario: how do we calculate the value of lost benefits?

Wrongful dismissal in Ontario: how do we calculate the value of lost benefits?

When an employee is fired and not given sufficient notice, a common point of dispute becomes how to properly calculate the lost value of non-monetary benefits. Wages, by contrast, are a relatively simple affair. If a court orders the employee ought to have received an additional three (3) months’ notice, the parties need only calculate the value of three months’ wages and any resulting interest for the delay in payment.

Another Canadian Court Warns Employees Against Making Secret Recordings at Work

Another Canadian Court Warns Employees Against Making Secret Recordings at Work

In a previous blog entry, we wrote about the laws surrounding secret recordings in the workplace. As we cautioned: “[b]efore creating such recordings, be sure to think carefully about the necessity of the action and check whether any workplace policies may be engaged.”

Hold the Applause: Clapping Banned to Reduce Individual Anxiety

Hold the Applause: Clapping Banned to Reduce Individual Anxiety

Manchester may be best known for its premiership football teams and spawning the likes of Oasis and The Smiths, however, the City was in the headlines last month for something quite different: its Student Union (“MUSU”) voted to replace clapping at all of its events with “jazz hands” (i.e. the practice of waving open hands in the air).

Sweet Revenge: Business Ordered to Pay Children Minimum Wage for Selling Chocolates

Sweet Revenge: Business Ordered to Pay Children Minimum Wage for Selling Chocolates

This week on Twitter, our firm has been examining the minimum wage from a variety of perspectives. Using the hashtag #minimumwageweek, we shared content ranging from videos of famed economists such as Milton Friedman to historical articles on the original debate when Ontario’s minimum wage was first introduced in 1963.

Hit Rewind: Ford Government Reverses Bill 148 Changes to Ontario Employment Laws

Hit Rewind: Ford Government Reverses Bill 148 Changes to Ontario Employment Laws

On October 23, 2018 the Ford government presented Bill 47, the Making Ontario Open for Business Act. Bill 47 is set to repeal a large portion of Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, which was passed into law by the previous provincial government just 11 months ago.

Just cause for dismissal: context is key

Just cause for dismissal: context is key

Determining what conduct amounts to just cause for dismissal is no easy task. In part this is due to just cause being inherently situation specific. When describing what may constitute just cause, employment lawyers often refer to extreme examples: think of situations where a public-facing employee makes repeated racial slurs to a customer or commits major fraud in the course of their duties. Typically, such facts will prove fertile ground for successful assertions of just cause for dismissal by an employer.

When is Retraining a Reasonable Approach to Mitigating Loss of Employment?

When is Retraining a Reasonable Approach to Mitigating Loss of Employment?

As we have discussed in previous articles, if you are fired from work and decide to seek severance, you are required to take reasonable steps to find alternate comparable employment. This obligation is referred to as the “duty to mitigate” the loss of your employment.

Paying the price: Ontario court reminds employers to carefully consider their approach to litigation

Paying the price: Ontario court reminds employers to carefully consider their approach to litigation

Wrongful dismissal disputes are fairly common. In our experience they often resolve through negotiation and infrequently progress far into the litigation process. That said, sometimes cases of this nature do reach the court room and the parties usually fight over the quantum of severance sought, the type of payments claimed (i.e. bonus/commissions) and whether the former employee made reasonable efforts to find re-employment.