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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.

Ministry of Labour Goes After Unpaid Internships
By Daniel Pugen on September 30th, 2014

Lately, unpaid interns have been on the Ministry of Labour’s radar. In June 2013 a policy statement was published which reminded employers that most unpaid internships run afoul of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”). I wrote about this policy statement in a previous post. In April 2014, arising out of a few high profile …

Ministry of Labour “Rings Up” $240,000 from Retail Inspection Blitz
By Daniel Pugen on September 17th, 2014

A Ministry of Labour (Ministry) inspection is never a pleasant experience for employers. Ministry inspectors have very broad powers to enter the workplace and inspect company documents to ensure compliance with the Employment Standards Act, 2000 or the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Sometimes these inspections are random. Sometimes they are initiated by an employee/union complaint. Most …

From the Desk of the HR Manager, August 2014 — Five Advantages of Contracting Out Disability Claims Management
By Melissa Kennedy on September 2nd, 2014

Illness related absences can significantly impact an organization’s productivity and be quite costly as a result. In 2011, Canadians took an average of 9.3 sick days, costing the economy …

New Rule of Thumb: 6 Months’ Pay Per Year of Service?
By Benjamin Aberant on August 20th, 2014

So much for the rule of thumb that an employee should receive one month of notice for every year of service. The Toronto Star has reported on a recent wrongful dismissal decision that Ontario employers should consider, especially when hiring senior managers or executives. Except for the 12 month notice period that was awarded, the facts …

From the Desk of the HR Manager, July 2014 — Organizational Dress Codes
By Melissa Kennedy on August 12th, 2014

Employees act as the face of an organization and representatives of its overall brand and image. Appropriate and professional work attire is necessary in building and maintaining this distinct …

Employers Should Take Advantage of Human Rights Summary Hearings
By Daniel Pugen on July 23rd, 2014

A few years back, the human rights system in Ontario was overhauled. The Human Rights Commission was to no longer investigate complaints and refer them to the Human Rights Tribunal (if they had some merit). All cases were to now go directly to the …

From the Desk of the HR Manager, June 2014
By Melissa Kennedy on July 15th, 2014

Regular attendance is key to maintaining a successful, productive organization. A full-time job cannot be performed by a part-time employee. An employee should be expected to come to work ready …

Ontario Court of Appeal puts the “Reasonable” back into “Reasonable Notice”
By Daniel Pugen and Matthew Demeo on July 3rd, 2014

Determining the actual notice period an employee is entitled to upon termination is often a frustrating exercise for employers. This is especially true of the more recent case-law which has tended to place more emphasis on certain factors (age and tenure) at the expense of other factors (nature of position and compensation). There have been …