Labour and Employment Law Blog

We often assist employers in defending claims by managers who allege that the employer failed to pay overtime. In this blog post, we explore some of the common pitfalls we see in such cases.

Many employers assume that managers are never entitled to additional pay for any additional hours worked, and that the manager’s wage or salary is their entire entitlement to ...

On July 15, 2022 the federal government released its proposed Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Canada Labour Code (Medical Leave with Pay) (the “Proposed Regulations”), with respect to paid sick leave for federally regulated employees.

As summarized in our earlier blog post, employees are entitled to a maximum of 10 days sick leave per year ...

Employers and employees saw the workplace change rapidly since March 2020. After a whirlwind of workforce changes and policies, litigation on the appropriateness of COVID-19 workplace measures is working its way through the courts, and the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench has recently released a decision on masking. In the recent decision, Benke v Loblaw Companies ...

Many employers establish policies that they expect their employees to follow, but a policy is not likely to be followed if there are no consequences for an employee who chooses not to do so.  If an employer wants to use the stick of discipline and possible termination of employment for cause for a breach of policy, the employer should take note of the following guidance.

In order ...

Two recent decisions from the Ontario Court of Appeal demonstrate that courts are moving away from assessing the severity of sexual harassment on a “spectrum,” and towards treating every incident of sexual harassment as serious.

Render v. ThyssenKrupp Elevator (Canada) Limited (2022 ONCA 310) dealt with a manager who was terminated after a single incident of ...

“I gotta get out of here before I slap someone,” said actor Jim Carrey discussing his decision to retire. He was, of course, referring to the now famous moment during the Oscars where Will Smith essentially attacked a co-worker, Chris Rock, who was doing his job.

Much fun and nuanced commentary has been provided about the Oscars slap, including discussions about how the ...

On April 6, 2022, Bill 10 – 2022 Labour Relations Code Amendment Act, 2022 (“Bill 10”) received its first reading. If passed, Bill 10 will introduce two significant amendments to the BC Labour Relations Code (the “Code”):

1. Return to a “card based” certification process – i.e. union certification without a vote.
2. Yearly opportunity for rival unions to ...

Further to our previous blog post on paid sick days, the British Columbia government has just announced amendments to paid sick days under the Employment Standards Act. The amendments are:

• Calendar Year: The current language in the Act says that employees are entitled to five paid sick days in “each employment year.” This was administratively burdensome for employers ...

On February 28, 2022, the Government of Ontario introduced Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022 (“Bill 88”), which if passed, would introduce new legislation regarding digital platform workers, as well as amending the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) and other statutes. Read on to find out the key points in Bill 88 that may affect your business.

Digital ...

Employers commonly seek our advice on issues related to maternity and parental leave. Here are some of our most frequently asked questions:

Q: Can I ask a candidate for employment whether or not they are pregnant, or whether they are planning on starting a family? I need to know to minimize disruption to my small business.

A: It is generally inadvisable to ask such questions ...