Labour and Employment Law Blog

In the recent decision of Lefebvre v Gisborne Holdings Ltd., 2023 BCSC 2231, the BC Supreme Court (The Court) found that Gisborne Holdings Ltd. (the Employer) did not have cause to dismiss a fixed-term contract employee and awarded $81,100 CAD in damages.

Ms. Lefebvre, the dismissed employee, was hired under a fixed-term contract to replace an employee on parental leave ...

Increased termination notice periods for federally regulated employers come into effect on February 1, 2024.^[1]

Greater Notice Requirements

The Canada Labour Code (the “Code”) currently requires federally regulated employers to provide at least two weeks’ notice of termination or wages in lieu of notice when terminating an employee’s employment on a without ...

Today, the SCC handed down an important decision for employers in Matthews v. Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited. There are at least three significant implications of this case in which the SCC sought to clarify the remedies available to employees on termination without cause:

1. An employer has a common law duty to provide reasonable notice of dismissal. This is an independent ...

In a recent decision, Waksdale v. Swegon North America, 2020 ONCA 391, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) held that a “without cause” termination provision in an employment agreement was unenforceable because a separate “with cause” termination provision did not comply with the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ON ESA”).

Mr. Waksdale had ...

Last week, we posted about the usefulness of probationary periods, both for unionized and non-unionized workers.

In each Canadian jurisdiction, there are rules under employment standards legislation regarding the period of employment during which a non-unionized employee can be dismissed without cause and without notice or pay in lieu of notice. If the probationary ...

In the recent Ontario decision Cook v. Hatch, 2017 ONSC 47, Lederer J. wrote that "if the parties to a contract seek to limit the notice requirements in the event of a termination but understand that they are bound by the minimum requirements of the applicable legislation, such a provision is not difficult to draft."

Nevertheless, drafting effective termination clauses that ...

In a recent decision, Wood v. Fred Deeley Imports Ltd., 2017 ONCA 158, the Ontario Court of Appeal reversed a 2016 judgment of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that had found a termination clause in an employee’s employment agreement enforceable. The consequence for the employer was that, instead of 13 weeks’ working notice and a lump sum equivalent to eight ...