The Supreme Court of Canada will be delivering a decision likely to provide further clarity on the scope of the jurisdiction of British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal) to hear a complaint alleging discrimination regarding employment involving parties who work for different employers. On October 13, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to…
Industry: Government Ministries & Agencies (Federal and Provincial)
Canadian Bar Association (CBA): Gender Identity and Gender Expression in the Workplace Webinar
Topics: Overview of concepts and terms relating to gender identity and expression Case law developments in the areas of human rights law and employment law Guidance for developing appropriate workplace policies Agenda In recent years, various jurisdictions across Canada have expressly added “gender identity” and “gender expression” as prohibited grounds of discrimination in their human…
Federal Government Introduces Amending Legislation to Support CPP Enhancement
On October 6, 2016, the federal government introduced Bill C-26, An Act to amend the Canada Pension Plan, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act and the Income Tax Act, new omnibus legislation to support Canada Pension Plan (CPP) enhancement. If passed, Bill C-26 would, among other things, amend the CPP to: increase the maximum…
Raising the Bar – Thirteenth Edition
The Fall is upon us and, with that, the courts are back in full swing. Although this may mean busy times for you ahead, it also means that we can look forward to interesting decisions from the court on topics that may impact your litigation strategies…
Duty to Accommodate Does Not Extend to Permitting Excessive Employee Absenteeism
In Ontario Public Service Employees Union v Ontario (Children and Youth Services), the Divisional Court recently affirmed that an employer’s duty to accommodate does not extend to allowing an employee not to work, stating that the “purpose of the duty to accommodate is to allow employees to fulfill their employment duties, not to allow employees not…
Minimum Wage to Increase on October 1, 2016
As previously reported, on October 1, 2016, the general minimum wage in Ontario will increase from $11.25 to $11.40 an hour. This minimum wage applies to most employees…
Ontario Moves Forward with BPS Executive Compensation Restraint
On September 6, 2016, the Ontario government published Ontario Regulation 304/16 “Executive Compensation Framework” (Regulation) under the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014 (BPSECA), which provides the compensation framework in accordance with which compensation programs for “designated executives” under the BPSECA must be developed, including a detailed process and specific one-year timeline for their development…
Ontario Consults on (Revised) Proposed Amendments to Advisory Committee Regulations
The Ontario government is consulting on a revised proposal for amending the Pension Benefits Act(PBA) regulations with respect to Pension Advisory Committees (PACs). The consultation is open only until September 12, 2016…
Changing Workplaces Review – Focus on Temporary Help Agencies and their Clients
For the past month, we have reported extensively on the Interim Report issued on July 27, 2016 by the Special Advisors undertaking the Changing Workplaces Review. Previous issues of the FTR Now have reported on potential changes to Personal Emergency Leave, the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA), and the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA)…
Annuitization of Supplementary Pension Benefits: Less Favourable Tax Treatment Arrives January 1, 2017
On January 1, 2017, changes to Canadian tax rules come into force that will impact how certain annuity payments are taxed. For prescribed annuities purchased after that date, more of each payment will become taxable as a result of these changes…