When is a Lawsuit an Appropriate Means to Resolve a Wrongful Dismissal Claim?
November 23, 2020 By Brian Babcock Generally, in Ontario, a person suffering a loss must sue within two years of suffering the loss. There are, however, circumstances that extend this time limit. Discoverability is at the heart of calculating the time limit to sue in Ontario. It simply is common sense that you cannot be expected […]
Racial Slurs May be Grounds to Terminate
October 16, 2020 By Brian Babcock Racial slurs have no place in the workplace, and may be grounds to terminate for cause. A recent arbitration award, Levi Strauss & Co. v Workers United Canada Council, 2020 CanLII 44271 begins by noting that at one time, verbal clashes between coworkers, even ones involving racial insults were not […]
Human Rights and Arbitrations
September 23, 2020 By Brian Babcock May unhappy unionized employees take a grievance to an arbitrator, and at the same time apply to a human rights tribunal? Allowing two proceedings to address the same or similar complaints is inefficiency, both in terms of cost and the risk of inconsistent rulings. In Ontario, this problem is reduced […]
Rethinking Termination Clauses
August 19, 2020 By Brian Babcock If you are an employer, it is time again to review and update the termination clauses in your employment contracts. If you are employee who is terminated, think twice and get legal advice before accepting what your contract provides. Over the years, the Ontario Court of Appeal has not been […]
Reasonable Notice and Successor Employers
August 10, 2020 By Brian Babcock Workers who are terminated without cause are entitled to reasonable notice of termination. If adequate notice is not given, they may sue for wrongful dismissal. The court determines reasonable notice based upon the character of the employment, years of service of the employee, the age of the employee and the […]
Moral Damages for Wrongful Termination of Employment
July 30, 2020 By Brian Babcock Traditionally, if you were fired without cause (“wrongfully dismissed”), you could collect damages equal to pay in lieu of notice (because no job is guaranteed indefinitely, all your employer owes you is reasonable notice) plus perhaps some modest amounts for lost benefits, retraining, moving expenses or the like. On the […]
The Meaning And Effect Of Hiring An Employee On Probation
July 18, 2017 By Brad Smith There is a presumption that an indefinite employment contract can be terminated by providing the employee with reasonable notice. This includes short-term employees. This presumption is overcome if the parties agree to a period of probation. The Ontario Court of Appeal has clarified the meaning of a probationary employee and […]
Tips About Tips
March 1, 2017 Picture working as a Server in a busy restaurant. You are dashing around, trying to ensure all your tables are happy. Without you noticing, one of your tables pulls the dreaded “dine and dash.” Who is left picking up the tab for this? In some cases in the past, it would have […]
Ontario Human Rights Commission Policy Position On Medical Documentation
February 7, 2017 By Brad Smith On February 1, 2017 the Ontario Human Rights Commission released a policy statement on medical documentation when addressing accommodation requests based on disability. The policy is intended to address two questions. First, people with disabilities often provide or rely on ambiguous or vague medical notes that do not provide enough information to allow for […]
Bill 132 And Workplace Sexual Harassment
November 9, 2016 By Brad Smith Bill 132, “An Act to amend various statutes with respect to sexual violence, sexual harassment, domestic violence and related matters”, amends 6 different Ontario Acts but we will focus on the changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The Occupational Health and Safety Act was amended in 2010 to include workplace harassment […]