When an employer dismisses an employee without cause, the employee’s work performance prior to termination is generally considered to be irrelevant. Ontario’s legal framework is concerned only with determining whether the employee was dismissed without receipt of either reasonable notice (in accordance with the common law or a written contract, as the case may be) and if not, calculating the value of damages that should be paid.

Face coverings have become a common feature of daily life in the age of COVID-19. Recent steps taken by both municipal and provincial governments now indicate that mandatory face coverings are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Effective September 26, 2020, Ontario amended its Rules for Areas in Stage Three, a government regulation that lays out requirements for businesses during the current phase of the provincial reopening process.

Since January 1, 2018 the general minimum wage in Ontario has been $14.00 per hour. As of October 1, 2020, it will increase to $14.25 per hour. Under the Making Ontario Open for Business Act, this increase is tied to the Ontario Consumer Price Index for 2020.

On September 3, 2020, Ontario announced that it had extended its freeze of temporary layoff limitations. Regular layoff rules had been set to resume on September 4, 2020. Pursuant to O. Reg. 492/20, this date has now been pushed back to January 2, 2021.

Vey Willetts lawyer Paul Willetts was recently quoted in The Lawyer's Daily. The article, "New federal rules to require interns to be paid minimum wage, students exempt", considers new regulations under the Canada Labour Code that are poised to take effect this fall.

On July 24, 2020, Bill 195, Re-opening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (the “Bill”) came into force, bringing an end to Ontario’s declared State of Emergency. Although the declared emergency is over, many emergency orders continue in effect (for an initial period of 30 days beyond July 24, 2020 and subject to subsequent renewal).

A recent decision from the Court of Appeal for Ontario has the potential to render many existing contractual termination clauses unenforceable. This development will have a major impact on employee severance rights and the costs employers may be required to incur when dismissing workers.

On June 18, 2020, Vey Willetts’ lawyer Paul Willetts presented at the Law Society of Ontario’s annual 6-Minute Employment Lawyer Conference. The event, which this year was held virtually, featured over 20 speakers and touched on a broad range of workplace issues.

Late in the day on Friday, May 29th, the Ontario Government quietly released a new regulation made pursuant to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”). Statutory regulations are not normally the stuff of excitement, even for lawyers. Yet this particular regulation, O. Reg. 228/20, Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (the “Regulation”), merits special consideration.

Over close to 9 weeks of social-distancing, my 2-year old daughter and I have watched Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (at her request, I promise) at least 167 times (and often before the sun rises). As we both became word-perfect, I realized this movie, in addition to great animation, holds some important lessons for Ontario employers and employees.

COVID-19 seemingly came from nowhere and fundamentally altered our lives. It has brought challenges to many Ontario workplaces, exposing deficiencies in employment agreements and emphasizing the need for strategic planning and preparedness.

Tired of talking about COVID-19? We certainly are. In an effort to set the pandemic aside for a moment, in this blog article we are going to revisit an old topic: sexual harassment in the workplace.

The sudden loss of a key employee can have a significant impact on an employer’s operations. It may result in loss of business, an inability to properly service clients and/or increased costs associated with replacing the lost worker.

Please note: the situation with COVID-19 is continuing to rapidly develop. In the coming days and weeks, it is likely that both levels of government may introduce additional measures/legislation that could impact employee rights/obligations. We will look to update this page accordingly. If, however, you have specific questions about your workplace entitlements, please contact an employment lawyer directly.

As of February 1, 2020, U-Haul no longer hires nicotine users in 21 of the US states in which it operates. The company, which employs over 30,000 people across the US and Canada, announced this new policy late last year.

For the past two months, the attention of the world has been fixed on Wuhan, China, as the epicentre of a new respiratory virus. The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (or 2019-nCoV) has been declared a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” by the World Health Organization and as of February 8, 2020, there have been eight (8) confirmed cases in Canada.

The Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) protects employees from discrimination in the workplace based on one (or more) of its protected grounds, which include disability, age, creed, sexual orientation, and gender identity. It further places a positive obligation on Ontario employers to reasonably accommodate employees to the point of undue hardship.