On March 1, 2022, all regions of Ontario entered the Roadmap Exit Step of the province’s Reopening Plan. Since that date, the government has been steadily reducing its COVID-19-related measures in anticipation of a full reopening of the province. As we previously reported, the Chief Medical Officer of Health announced on March 9, 2022 that…
Insights
FTR Now
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…
HR HealthCheck
A recent arbitral decision, South Bruce Grey Health Centre v. Ontario Nurses’ Association, clarifies the issue of compensation for re-certification under the centrally negotiated ONA Collective Agreement with the Participating Hospitals. The two grievances raised the issue of “whether a nurse is entitled to compensation for attending testing for the purposes of re-certification required by the Hospital”.
Case In Point
In Canada (Attorney General) v. Bodnar, the employer sought judicial review of a decision of the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board (Board) in which the Board held that the inclusion of disability-related absences and absences taken for the purposes of family caregiver leave in an attendance management policy was discriminatory. On judicial review,…
Raising the Bar
Raising the Bar – Thirteenth Edition
· 12 min readThe 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…
Case In Point
In Tran v. University of Western Ontario, the Ontario Superior Court recently considered both the ability of an institution to shield itself from civil action on the basis of “academic discretion” and the liability of the individual employees of the institution in exercising such discretion. Justice Dunphy accepted that universities enjoy broad discretion in respect of academic…
Case In Point
Is an employer obligated to set aside the termination of an employee if the employee subsequently discloses a disability? The Ontario Court of Appeal has seemingly answered this question in the case of Bellehumeur v. Windsor Factory Supply Ltd. and provided clarity to employers regarding their ability to discipline inappropriate workplace conduct perpetrated by employees who suffer…
Case In Point
In Canada (Attorney-General) v. Hicks, the Federal Court held that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (“CHRT”) did not err when it found that Human Resources and Services Development Canada (“HRSDC”) discriminated against Mr. Hicks in refusing to approve expenses associated with maintaining temporary dual residences after a relocation from Halifax to Ottawa. After Mr. Hicks…
Case In Point
The decision of K.L. v. 1163957799 Quebec Inc. raises a caution for employers when planning social events. The employer hosted an unstructured evening social event at a water park where employees had unrestricted access to alcohol. The plaintiff brought an action against the employer and a supervisor as a result of an alleged sexual assault…
FTR Quarterly
2014 Fall Edition
· 1 min readFOCUS ON UNIVERSITIES Universities – higher learning in the HR world LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS Pillars of success: a “best practices” approach to post-secondary accommodation issues Top ten tips for medical information management PROFILE It’s academic Download PDF
Case In Point
In a fast-paced workplace, misdirected emails can easily happen and may occasionally result in an embarrassing disclosure of information to the wrong person. A recent decision of the Divisional Court confirms that the inadvertent email can also result in significant legal consequences for employers. In Fernandes v. Marketforce Communications, the employer forwarded the email of a…
News
Employers must take care not to press the “send” button too soon as inadvertently copying an incorrect person on an email communication can have unintended results. In Fernandes v. Marketforce Communications, an employer emailed information to its lawyer setting out concerns regarding the continued employment of an employee. By mistake, that employee was copied on…
Reaching Out
Reaching Out – First Edition
· 21 min readDear Friends, The Social Service Sector Practice Group is pleased to introduce its first FTR Now edition of Reaching Out. Reaching Out is our Social Service Update designed to provide you with legal updates on new and developing cases, trends and topics that are relevant to your sector and which provide you with information and…