A recent decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Coutinho v. Ocular Health Centre Ltd., 2021 ONSC 3076) is the first to consider the legal consequences of Ontario’s Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (a special measure created to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic).
When the pandemic first began, and at various subsequent points, many Ontario employers experienced a decrease in work volume and, as a result, made the difficult decision to place their staff on temporary unpaid lay-off from work. This seemingly straightforward decision, however, has resulted for some businesses in unintended litigation. They have faced employee claims for severance on the basis that their lay-off amounted to a constructive dismissal from employment.
Earlier this month, Vey Willetts’ lawyer Andrew Vey presented to a the Employment Accessibility Resource Network (“EARN”). EARN is a community initiative that brings together in partnership employers, service providers and other stakeholders with the goal of increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
For a second time, Ontario has extended its freeze of the ordinary rules governing unpaid temporary layoffs. Pursuant to O. Reg. 765/20, issued under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”), provincially regulated employers in Ontario are now allowed to keep employees off work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, without pay, during the period of March 1, 2020 to July 3, 2021.
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.
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.
