It is common for employers to include language in their staff contracts to help safeguard business interests. This may take the form of obligations to protect confidential information and/or refrain from soliciting staff, suppliers and/or clients after the employment relationship ends.

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”) was a form of income replacement offered by the Government of Canada at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible recipients could receive $2,000.00 per month during the program’s 28-week duration (which ran from March to September 2020).

Losing a job can be an upsetting experience. This may be especially so where the individual in question had been employed for a long time, was part of a small tight-knit team, or the decision came seemingly out of the blue.

In Pham v. Qualified Metal Fabricators Ltd., 2023 ONCA 255, the Court of Appeal for Ontario recently issued an important ruling regarding the law of unpaid temporary layoffs.

Workers are usually categorized as an employee or a contractor. Each category comes with its own distinct set of entitlements and obligations. Generally speaking, a contractor is someone in business for themselves, while an employee works for the benefit of another’s business.

Our firm is often retained by employees and employers to provide advice on dismissal entitlements. One of the first places we look in this regard is to the parties’ written employment contract (if one exists). Employers have an incentive to implement written contracts as a means of limiting future dismissal costs. For similar reasons, contracts often come under heavy scrutiny by employees (and their lawyers) whenever a job termination takes place.

Hirings and firings are common to workplaces across Ontario. For various reasons, people come and go. Employment dismissals, however, when mishandled, can bring with them significant risk and result in unintended liability.

When drafted carefully, written employment contracts can be helpful tools. They provide a clear view of the intended relationship and proactively address common issues that may arise. In so doing, contracts offer transparency and reduce the risk of future disputes.

ChatGPT (an artificial intelligence language generator financed by Microsoft) has captured the world’s attention. By inputting prompts in plain language, ChatGPT can do a seemingly endless series of tasks. Some are quite mundane – such as answering questions – while others could be revolutionary for automating common and labour-intensive work.

January has been a difficult month for many Ontarians. In addition to the short days, snow, and cold, we are dealing with rising interest rates and, for a significant number, loss of employment.

Equity compensation is one of the fastest growing categories of employee pay. More and more Canadian workers are seeing some form of employer-issued equity (via stock options, restricted share units, employee purchase plans, etc.) offered as part of incentive compensation packages. However, little attention tends to be given to the fine print that accompanies equity pay.

Generally speaking, a dismissed employee has an obligation to take reasonable steps to find, and accept, new comparable employment. Whether it is reasonable to accept new employment will always be a contextual assessment taking into consideration: whether the work is within the individual’s skillset; whether the role is at a similar level of seniority (i.e., Director, Vice-President etc.); whether the compensation is approximately the same; and whether the job is within a reasonable distance from where the individual lives. On this last point, it is generally acknowledged by the courts that it is not reasonable to expect an individual to move cities to accept a new job.

Vey Willetts lawyer Andrew Vey recently spoke with The Lawyer’s Daily for an article entitled “Appellate ruling confirms employers must lead evidence when disputing mitigation efforts: lawyers.“

The duty to accommodate disability in the workplace has both procedural and substantive aspects. It is not enough for an employer to merely arrive at the right result; the process in getting there is equally important.

It is quite common for employers to offer a bonus or incentive payment as part of a worker’s compensation. Bonuses serve a useful dual function – incentivizing individuals to perform their duties well and then rewarding achievement of the same.

Most employment contracts operate for an indefinite period. Lesser seen are fixed term agreements. The latter are most often used in the context of a sale of business and in the not-for-profit sector (where funding is frequently tied to time-limited grants). Regardless of their underlying motivation, fixed term contracts come with significant risks for employers.

Termination clauses are found in most written employment contracts. They typically set out a fixed formula to govern severance entitlements upon dismissal.

By December 1, 2022, the Canada Labour Code will require all federally regulated employers, regardless of size, to provide their employees with up to ten (10) paid days of annual medical leave.