Government Announces Consultation on Pay Transparency Reporting Requirements

On February 19, 2019, the Ministry of Labour invited feedback on its Pay Transparency Consultation Paper to assist it in the development of regulatory pay transparency reporting requirements under the Pay Transparency Act, 2018 (Act). The coming into force date of that Act was postponed indefinitely by Bill 57, Restoring Trust, Transparency and Accountability Act,…

Reaching Out – Fourteenth Edition

Dear Friends, Welcome to our Winter 2019 edition of Reaching Out. The last 18 months have been a tumultuous time in employment law in Ontario. We saw the introduction of sweeping changes to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and Labour Relations Act, 1995 in January 2018, only to see many of them repealed in January…

WSIB Issues New Policy on Medical Cannabis

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has issued Policy 17-01-10 Cannabis for Medical Purposes (Policy) which will come into effect on March 1, 2019. The WSIB has previously covered the cost of medical cannabis in some circumstances, primarily for the relief of pain in accordance with section 33 of the Workplace Safety and Insurance…

Workplace Law in Canada

Workplace law in Canada operates in a significantly different way than workplace law in the United States. This short primer sets out the main features of Canadian workplace law to enable American legal counsel to understand the basic differences and ask further questions.

Ministry of Labour Publishes New ESA Poster

The Ministry of Labour has published a revised version of the ESA poster (Version 8.0) to reflect the recent changes to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 made by Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018. Employers are required to post the poster in a conspicuous place in the workplace, among other things. Learn more in this FTR Now.

Tribunal Finds that Denial of Coverage for Medical Cannabis under Employer’s Benefit Plan is not Discriminatory

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (the Tribunal) recently held that the decision to deny coverage for medical cannabis coverage under an employer’s benefit plan is not discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code) when the decision to deny coverage is unrelated to an applicant’s disability or another protected ground. In Rivard v. Essex (County),…

“ESA-Only” Termination Clause Complied with ESA but Failed to Rebut Presumption of Common Law Notice

The Divisional Court recently upheld a decision of the Superior Court of Justice which held that a termination clause in an employment contract which complied with the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) failed to clearly rebut the presumption of entitlement to common law notice. The plaintiff was therefore owed reasonable notice. In Movati Athletic (Group)…