Ontario to Enter Step 1 of Reopening on June 11, 2021

The Ontario government has announced that effective June 11 at 12:01 a.m., all regions of the province will enter Step 1 of its Roadmap to Reopen as the COVID-19 cases slowly begin to drop and the vaccination rates increase.

Bonnie Roberts Jones

Bonnie Roberts Jones is counsel to Hicks Morley in its Toronto office. Having practised for 25 years, she provides advice on a wide range of civil and commercial matters including executive termination advocacy, shareholder disputes, directors’ liability, defamation and contractual disputes. Bonnie has significant class action experience, having acted on a number of these unique…

Ontario Announces Further Extension of Temporary Relief from ESA Termination and Severance Provisions

Effective June 4, 2021, the Ontario government has extended the temporary relief measures from the termination and severance provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) until September 25, 2021. The temporary measures are found in Ontario Regulation 228/20, Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL Regulation), which has been amended to define the “COVID-19 period” as that period beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on September 25, 2021.

Details about WSIB Reimbursement Process for Paid IDEL Now Available

On April 29, 2021, the Ontario government amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to provide paid infectious disease emergency leave (IDEL) for certain absences related to COVID-19. Employers who provide paid IDEL to eligible employees are entitled to reimbursement through the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), up to $200 per employee per day taken….

Nadine Zacks Quoted in SHRM on how Rapid Testing Could Curtail COVID-19 Outbreaks in Canadian Workplaces

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…

Amendments to the Canada Labour Code Tabled in Budget Bill

On April 30, 2021, the federal government tabled Bill C-30, the Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1 (Bill C-30). If passed, Bill C-30 would give effect to certain initiatives proposed in the government’s Spring Budget, discussed in our FTR Now dated April 23, 2021 “Key Highlights of Federal Budget 2021.” In this Federal Post, we…

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…

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…