One year after releasing a new policy on sexualized and gender-specific dress codes, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (Commission) has released findings from its inquiry into related practices at certain large restaurant chains operating in the province. Learn more about it in this FTR Now…
Business Operation: Canada
FTR Quarterly – Issue 4, Volume 1
This issue features articles on; Human Resources Trends and Issues to Watch in 2017, the Top 10 Developments in Human Resources Law in 2016 and the Featured Lawyer is Amy R. Tibble…
EI Regulations Amended, Implementing Reduced One-Week Waiting Period
As expected, key amendments to the federal Employment Insurance Act reducing the Employment Insurance (EI) waiting period from two weeks to one week were proclaimed in force effective January 1, 2017…
Tribunal Sets Out New Test for “Danger” under Canada Labour Code
In an important decision for all federally regulated employers, the Occupational Health and Safety Tribunal of Canada (OHSTC) released its first decision interpreting the new definition of “danger” under the Canada Labour Code (Code)…
Procedural Power of Courts Not Constrained by PIPEDA
In Royal Bank of Canada v. Trang, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) does not interfere with the procedural powers of a court. The decision arose out of a situation in which past judicial interpretation and application of PIPEDA had impeded the ability of the…
An Update on “Minimum Standards Only” Termination Clauses
The Ontario Superior Court has issued several decisions over the past few years which have found “minimum standards only” termination provisions in employment contracts to be unenforceable. Thus, employers are in the unexpected position of being liable for reasonable notice at common law…
Ten Incident Response Tips – Part 2
In Part 1 of this two-part series on data security incident response, we identified five “norms” to guide your incident response process…
Ten Incident Response Tips – Part 1
Responding to a data security incident is as much art as science. Whatever size your organization and whatever risks you face, you should have a detailed incident response plan to guide the efforts of a defined incident response team…
The Reduced EI Waiting Period: What Employers Need to Know
A reduction to the EI waiting period is expected take effect January 1, 2017. Supplemental unemployment benefit and top-up plan administration will be immediately affected, and short-term disability and sick leave plans may also be impacted. Are you prepared?
Supreme Court Affirms Supremacy of Solicitor-Client Privilege
In Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. University of Calgary, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada (with two justices partially concurring) affirmed that the University of Calgary was justified in its refusal to produce certain documents over which it had claimed solicitor-client privilege to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (Commissioner). The…