Employer or Employee: Who Owns the Copyright?
July 21, 2026 By Jacob Thompson Canada’s Copyright Act provides that, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, an employer is the first owner of copyright in a work created by an employee “in the course of” their employment. This applies not only to the sort of written documents that we might immediately […]
More Than Just One Burden: Mitigation In Employment Law
July 7, 2026 By Jacob Thompson A non-union employee dismissed without cause is entitled to reasonable notice, or damages in lieu of notice. The flipside of that right is the burden to mitigate those damages, which means that the employee has to look for other work and that any income from the replacement job reduces […]
Lessons from Adelman v. IBM: Discretionary Bonuses and Reasonable Notice
June 9, 2026 By Jacob Thompson An employee dismissed without cause is entitled to reasonable notice of termination, or damages in lieu of notice of termination. THE ISSUE But what about an employee whose compensation package includes a discretionary bonus? Is that bonus included in calculating how much the employee is owed following termination? THE […]
Signed Release Or Not: A Deal Is A Deal
May 6, 2026 By Brian Babcock Having the departing employee sign a release is a normal part of settling a dispute over the dismissal of an employee. THE ISSUES But what happens if the employee never actually signs the formal release? Can financial stress amount to duress, allowing an employee to walk away from the […]
Misconduct and the Departing Employee
March 17, 2026 By Jonathon Clark What happens when a senior employee departs and sets up a competing business? THE ISSUE With Ontario’s Employment Standards Act banning non-competition agreements (except for listed “Chief” officers), this is an increasingly important question. Employers may not be pleased by the result in Titus Steel Company Limited v. Hack. […]
The Latest on Termination Clauses
December 16, 2025 By Brian Babcock We have written several articles on the tendency of Ontario courts to favour employees in wrongful dismissal claims. THE ISSUE In particular, courts have seldom upheld clauses in employment contract that attempt to limit payments available to the employee upon dismissal. One of these is Dufault v. Township of […]
Adjournment and the Duty to Accommodate
December 2, 2025 By Brian Babcock The decision whether or not to adjourn a hearing before a court or tribunal is discretionary. This does not mean that there are no limits on how that discretion is exercised. If the judge or adjudicator fails to follow established principles, a new hearing may be ordered. The duty […]
Employers: Excessive Demands on Termination May Come Back to Bite You
August 5, 2025 By Brian Babcock Employers- even if you have a valid termination clause in your employment contracts (see our numerous prior articles on this topic), you must fully comply with the terms of the clause, or risk being found in breach of the contract, leaving you responsible to pay greater amounts to the […]
Termination Clause Upheld
July 3, 2025 By Brian Babcock We have written several articles on the trend in Ontario courts to find termination clauses in employment contracts as void because they do not conform to the minimum standards in the Employment Standards Act. This does not mean all termination clauses are void. A well-crafted clause may be upheld. […]
Termination Clauses: Courts Continue to Favour Employees
June 5, 2025 By Brian Babcock We have written about numerous examples of how courts favour employees in interpreting termination clauses. Even a marginal divergence from the requirements of the Employment Standards Act will result in a ruling that the employee is entitled to common law notice. THE ISSUE Since the whole point of most […]