Labour and Employment Law Blog

Last year, we published a blog about things an employer should do before they terminate the employment of an employee. In recent years, employers are facing increasing claims for aggravated damages arising out of the manner in which the employer has carried out the termination of an employee’s employment.  In order to minimize the possibility that aggravated damages ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work. Business-related travel, particularly international travel, has decreased significantly. For some employers, travel for work-related purposes, both domestic and international, is a necessity, not an option. In this blog post, we address some of the risks associated with business-related travel during the pandemic ...

As we all know by now, the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a mob of President Trump’s supporters on Wednesday January 6, 2021. A great deal of the mob, as well as police officers who appeared to stand aside as rioters streamed inside, were captured on video and replayed repeatedly over the news. This includes two Canadian nurses who allegedly travelled to Washington D.C. to ...

Terminating the employment of an employee is never easy. There are many things to consider from both a practical and legal perspective. The more prepared you can be the better. While not exhaustive, set out below are some questions every employer should be asking themselves before they terminate the employment of any non-union employee on a “without cause” basis.

• What ...

Continuing our seasonal theme of “legal gifts” for employers, a recent decision of the British Columbia Provincial Court provides a glimmer of hope for employers with respect to notice of termination of employment for short service employees. 

In Brash v. Gustafson’s Auto Service Ltd., 2019 BCPC 259, the plaintiff, William Brash, accepted employment as Sales ...

Sometimes, employers allow employees to arrive at work later than their official start time. Employers can take comfort in the fact that this occasional permissiveness does not mean that employees can demand a later start time.

In Peternel v. Custom Granite & Marble Ltd., 2019 ONSC 5064, the Ontario Divisional Court held that an employer’s flexibility regarding start ...

Monday, October 21, 2019 is Federal Election Day. Under the Canada Elections Act, employees who are eligible to vote are entitled to three consecutive hours of time off to do so. These three consecutive hours (“voting time”) must fall within the following voting hours on polling day.

Everyone has body odour, and occasionally, it can affect the workplace. Take the examples of a long-time, excellent employee who develops a condition which results in severe and “offensive” body odour; or an individual with fragrance allergies. These issues raise various questions. What is the responsibility of the “offending” employee, or the employee with ...