SHRM quoted Hicks Morley’s Nadine Zacks in a May 12, 2021 article titled “Rapid Testing Could Curtail COVID-19 Outbreaks in Canadian Workplaces”. During Canada’s third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, workplace outbreaks risk transmitting the COVID-19 virus and its variants. Experts say rapid testing in workplaces could be instrumental in helping Canada fight the third…
Industry: Construction
Clarification: Interaction between Paid IDEL and Contractual Paid Leave
On May 3, 2021, we published an FTR Now providing an overview of the new paid infectious disease emergency leave (Paid IDEL) created by Bill 284, the COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act, 2021. In our publication, we addressed the interaction between the new Paid IDEL and contractual paid leave, and how the contractual entitlement would…
Ontario Enacts Legislation to Provide Paid Leave for Reasons Related to COVID-19
On April 29, 2021, the Ontario government tabled and passed Bill 284, COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act, 2021 (Bill). The Bill amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to provide eligible employees with up to three days of paid emergency leave in circumstances of absences relating to a designated infectious disease (Paid IDEL). As readers…
Ontario Court of Appeal Holds “Owner” of a Construction Project Can Be Considered an “Employer” Under OHSA
A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal has significant implications under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) for owners and employers responsible for construction projects. In Ontario (Labour) v. Sudbury (City), the Court of Appeal held that an “owner” of a construction project can also be considered an “employer” with obligations to…
Ontario Announces Paid Sick Leave for Reasons Related to COVID-19
On April 28, 2021, the Ontario government announced that it will be introducing legislation to provide up to three sick paid leave days to eligible employees if they are taken for reasons related to COVID-19. The program would be retroactive to April 19, 2021 and remain in effect until September 25, 2021, the date the…
Key Highlights of Federal Budget 2021
On April 19, 2021, the federal government tabled its 2021 Budget “A Recovery Plan For Jobs, Growth, And Resilience” (Budget). The Budget sets out a broad range of proposals stemming from the pandemic, such as an extension of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and an increase to the length of Employment Insurance (EI) sickness…
Proposed New PBGF Disclosure Requirements
On April 15, 2021, the Ontario government released draft amendments to Ontario Regulation 909 under the Pension Benefits Act (PBA), which provide new details of the Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund (PBGF) reporting requirements that will soon apply to registered pension plan administrators with Ontario members. In this FTR Now, we highlight the key details of…
Ontario Extends Stay-at-Home Order; Implements Further Restrictions
On April 16, 2021, the Ontario government extended the declared emergency made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) as well as the Stay-at-Home Order until May 5, 2021. Additional restrictions for the Rules for Areas in Stage 1 (Shutdown Zone), made under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020,…
Ontario Bar Association – Annual Update on Human Rights
On May 26th, Kathryn Bird will present on the topic “Review of recent notable human rights cases and developments in the law” at the Annual Update on Human Rights, presented by the Ontario Bar Association. To learn more about this event and to register, visit the Canadian Bar Associate website.
Reaching Out – Fifteenth Edition
Dear Friends, We are back with another edition of Reaching Out. With 2020 behind us and some light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic tunnel, we thought it appropriate to reconnect with our Social Services clients with a Spring edition of Reaching Out. We chose not to publish Reaching Out last year as we…