Ontario employers must find room on their bulletin boards by October 1, 2012 to display a new Ministry of Labour poster entitled “Health and Safety at Work: Prevention Starts Here.” The poster was developed in response to a recommendation of the Expert Advisory Panel to review Ontario’s occupational health and safety system and summarizes key…
Industry: Government Ministries & Agencies (Federal and Provincial)
Ontario Releases Draft Compensation Restraint Legislation for Consultation
On September 26, 2012, the government announced draft omnibus legislation, the Protecting Public Services Act, 2012 (the “Draft Bill”), that would implement new, substantially more restrictive compensation restraint measures, and impose a significant new provincially mandated collective bargaining regime, for the Broader Public Sector (“BPS”).
Federal Government Introduces Helping Families in Need Act
On September 20, 2012, the federal government introduced Bill C-44, the Helping Families in Need Act, legislation that would, if passed, amend (among other things) both the Employment Insurance Act (“EI Act”) and the Canada Labour Code as follows: the EI Act will provide for a new specified sickness benefit for parents receiving EI parental…
Leave to Appeal Sought in Freedom of Association Case
The Mounted Police Association is seeking leave to appeal from the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Mounted Police Association of Ontario v. Canada (Attorney General), which found that a separate labour relations regime established for members of the RCMP did not violate the freedom of association guarantee in section 2(d) of the…
Survivor Benefits Amendments Proclaimed in Force October 1, 2012
On September 8, 2012, amendments to section 44 of the Pension Benefits Act were proclaimed in force effective October 1, 2012. Specifically, the amendments clarify (1) that survivor benefits can be reduced on the death of either spouse, and (2) that consent will be required in order to commute small survivor benefits where the member…
Family Caregiver Leave Bill Passes Second Reading, Referred to Committee
On September 6, 2012, Bill 30, Family Caregiver Leave Act (Employment Standards Amendment), 2011 carried at Second Reading and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Policy. As previously reported, Bill 30 would, if passed, amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to create Family Caregiver Leave. The leave would be available to all full-time,…
Federal Wage Restraint Legislation Does Not Infringe Section 2(d) of Charter
Underscoring once again that section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”) only guarantees a meaningful process of collective bargaining and not a particular result, the Ontario Court of Appeal recently found that wage restraint legislation effectively prohibiting salary increases over a five-year period was not, in and of itself, unconstitutional. Association…
Québec VRSPs Bill Expires on Order Paper
As previously reported, in its March 2012 Budget the Québec government signalled its commitment to establish Voluntary Retirement Savings Plans (“VRSPs”), mandatory group pension plans that all employers in Québec employing at least five employees would have been required to implement, if they did not already provide a retirement savings plan for employees. The VRSPs…
Fall 2012 Safety Blitzes Announced by Ontario Government
The Ontario government has announced the launch of four targeted safety blitzes at workplaces across the province this Fall. The planned blitzes will focus on: supervision at construction sites (September and October); machine guarding hazards and repetitive strain injuries in manufacturing and industrial workplaces (October and November); infection prevention and control in health care workplaces…
Hicks Morley Information and Privacy Post – 2011/2012
Dear Friends: It’s late August 2012, and here’s what’s on our minds. Our Information and Privacy Post is back. This edition contains 61 case summaries relating to the protection of confidential business information, electronic evidence, freedom of information, privacy, privilege and production. It has been a remarkable year. Canadian privacy law, in particular, has made…