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Ontario Employer Advisor Blog – Quarterly Review

This is our Quarterly Review, highlighting posts on our Ontario Employer Advisor blog. Follow the links to any of these specific posts, or visit the blog at www.ontarioemployerlaw.com where you can sign up to get each new post as it is published. As always, your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Daughter’s Facebook Post Causes Father to Lose $80,000 Settlement From Age Discrimination Lawsuit
By Benjamin Aberant on March 24th, 2014

A recent decision from the Florida Third District Court of Appeal provides some valuable guidance for Canadian employers wishing to keep settlement agreements strictly confidential. Patrick Snay (Snay) had settled an age discrimination lawsuit with his former employer Gulliver Preparatory School (the School). The School agreed to pay him $80,000, but the settlement agreement contained the following ...

Time Limits for Wage Complaints Under the Canada Labour Code to Come Into Force April 1
By Matthew Demeo on March 24th, 2014

The long-awaited proclamation of several important amendments to the Canada Labour Code (the Code), have finally been announced. On March 12, 2014, the Federal Government announced that April 1, 2014 will be the day that certain sections of the Jobs and Growth Act, 2012, will come into force. The Jobs and Growth Act, 2012, also known informally ...

No Perfect Attendance Bonus to Employee on Workers’ Compensation Leave of Absence
By Daniel Pugen on March 3rd, 2014

Managing absenteeism and dealing with the associated costs are among the most difficult things employers face. Accordingly, many employers try to incentivize employees to improve their attendance by providing bonuses based on meeting attendance thresholds. Seems simple enough. However, what if an employee is off work on a disability leave? That employee is off work through no fault of his/her ...

Did Bringing a Class Action Over Changes in Post-Retirement Benefits Just Get Easier?
By Daniel Pugen and Mark Firman on February 13th, 2014

On January 16, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada released its long-anticipated decision in Vivendi Canada Inc. v. Dell’Aniello. The decision affirmed the Quebec Court of Appeal’s 2012 judgment certifying a class proceeding by retirees of Vivendi Canada (formerly Seagram) and their beneficiaries over the company’s unilateral reductions in their post-retirement health and welfare benefit ...

McCarthy Tétrault strengthens its commitment to innovation and efficiency with addition of Labour Relations Specialist Melissa Kennedy
By McCarthy Tétrault LLP on February 4th, 2014

We are delighted to announce that Melissa Kennedy has joined the firm as Labour Relations Specialist in the Labour & Employment Group in Toronto. The newly created role — the first of its kind for our firm — is part of our commitment to providing clients with the highest quality strategic legal services, most efficiently through a ...

Minimum Wage Increase Coming to Ontario
By Daniel Pugen on February 3rd, 2014

Effective June 1, 2014, the general minimum wage in Ontario will increase from $10.25 to $11.00 per hour. The increase will result in Ontario and Nunavut having the highest minimum wage in Canada. The increase essentially accounts for inflation since the last minimum wage raise to $10.25 in 2010. The student minimum wage will also increase from ...

Following an OHSA Order is not a Mitigating Factor in Sentencing
By Matthew Demeo on January 28th, 2014

A recent decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal stands for the principle that with respect to sentencing under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), you will not receive any credit for doing something you were ordered to do. In Ontario (Labour) v. Flex-N-Gate Canada Company, 2014 ONCA 53, the employer was convicted of ...

New Human Rights Decision Provides Guidance on Frustration of Contract – When is an employment agreement frustrated?
By Benjamin Aberant on January 21st, 2014

We are often asked by our clients how long one of their employees has to be off work before it can justifiably take the position that an employment relationship has been "frustrated". Employers often wonder this because when an employment relationship is frustrated, the employee is not entitled to common law notice or pay in ...

Beauty Pageant Case Provides Example of Welcomed Use of Summary Hearings by the Human Rights Tribunal
By Daniel Pugen and Benjamin Aberant on January 8th, 2014

Back in April 2013, we reported on a Human Rights Tribunal (the Tribunal) decision where a summary hearing was granted and an application was dismissed as having no reasonable prospect of success. A newly released decision involving a beauty pageant demonstrates the Tribunal’s increasing and welcomed use of the summary hearing mechanism.

Canadian Appeals Monitor wins Clawbie
By McCarthy Tétrault LLP on January 3rd, 2014

We are delighted to share that McCarthy Tétrault’s Canadian Appeals Monitor blog has received a 2013 Clawbie (Canadian Law Blog Award) in the Practice Group Blog category, for its overall excellence in covering Canada’s appellate courts and cases. Canadian Appeals Monitor is one of McCarthy Tétrault’s 10 blogs covering a variety of practice areas. The ...