Causation in Human Rights Cases
November 16, 2023 By Brian Babcock In law, we talk about “causation” as the relationship between a person’s actions and the results that follow. It is a complex legal concept and differs by area of law. The application of the concept in human rights complaints differs materially from the general notions of causation. Causation Generally […]
Fixed or Indefinite Employment and Why it Matters
October 27, 2023 By Brian Babcock When does a fixed-term contract of employment become a contract of indefinite duration? In Ontario and most of Canada, employees hired under a contract for an indefinite duration are entitled to “reasonable notice” of termination. In Ontario, although the Employment Standards Act provides the minimum notice, reasonable notice may […]
Taking a Fair Approach to Termination
September 11, 2023 By Brian Babcock All good things must come to an end, including our jobs. Sometimes that happens because a fixed-term contract expires. Some employees retire. But some are terminated. In Ontario, if you are terminated without cause, you are entitled to compensation from your employer. The Employment Standards Act provides minimums. Common […]
Do Employers Have a Right to Layoff Employees?
July 21, 2023 By Brian Babcock Can an Ontario employer lay off a nonunionized employee? In most situations, the answer is “no.” THE ISSUE For the employer to be able to lay off the worker without risk of the worker claiming that they have been dismissed, the employment contract or agreement must contain an express […]
Reasonable Notice and the Changing Substratum
June 26, 2023 By Brian Babcock The Ontario Court of appeal continues to favour employees when it comes to the interpretation of termination clauses in employment contracts. THE ISSUE The latest issue is the question of what happens when an employment contract is signed at the commencement of employment, but the termination occurs years later […]
Building a Record for the Appeal
February 10, 2023 By Brian Babcock What just might be worse than losing your case at trial? Winning the case and then having to go back to try it all over again because not only does the Court of Appeal grant the appeal, but they also decide that the factual record from the trial is […]
Think Before You Terminate
February 4, 2023 By Brian Babcock Be careful not to terminate an employee by accident. The surest way to accidentally terminate an employee is to give them a notice of termination. This may sound obvious, yet the case ended up at the Ontario Court of Appeal. Getting sound professional advice BEFORE terminating may prevent expensive […]
What Is “Total Disability?”
January 20, 2023 By Nick Melchiorre The phrase “total disability” is used frequently in government benefits and private disability insurance plans. But how do you know whether you, your employee, or a loved one is totally disabled? The first thing to know is that the determination will depend primarily on the particular legislation, plan, regulation, […]
Mitigation In Employment Law Revisited
January 7, 2023 By Brian Babcock Mitigation is one of those odd words used in law that most people are not instantly comfortable with. Odds are though that you are aware at least vaguely that when somebody is let go from their job, they have an obligation to look for new employment rather than simply […]
Discretionary Bonuses and Termination
November 28, 2022 By Brian Babcock THE ISSUE Are discretionary bonuses to terminated employees truly discretionary? THE CASE This was one of the two issues facing the Ontario Court of Appeal in the recent decision Bowen v. JC Clark Ltd., and is the issue that is more likely to affect most of our readers. This […]