Recent amendments to the Ontario Securities Act (Act) now permit an employee to commence a civil action in court for reprisal against whistleblowing. Section 121.5 of the Act imposes new potential liability for employers. It states: 121.5 (1) No person or company, or person acting on behalf of a person or company, shall take a…
Industry: Professional & Technical Services
The Right to Be Forgotten Comes to Canada
On January 26, 2018, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada issued a new position on the protection of online reputation. In doing so the OPC recognized a right to have personal information de-indexed from search engine results if it is inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date. Although the position is in draft, is nonetheless of…
Ontario Court of Appeal Rules (Again) on the Enforceability of an ESA-Only Termination Clause
The Ontario Court of Appeal has once again considered a minimum entitlements clause in an employment contract and ruled it to be generally enforceable. In Nemeth v Hatch Ltd., an employee with 19 years service was dismissed with 8 weeks’ notice of termination and 19.42 weeks’ salary as severance pay, as well as continued benefits…
An Update on “Minimum Standards Only” Termination Clauses
The Ontario Superior Court has issued several decisions over the past few years which have found “minimum standards only” termination provisions in employment contracts to be unenforceable. Thus, employers are in the unexpected position of being liable for reasonable notice at common law…
New Definition of “Spouse” in Ontario to Affect Plan Administration, Insurance & Succession Rules
Pending legislative changes to the definition of “spouse” in Ontario are set to impact pension plan administration and insurance claims in Ontario, further to amendments recently enacted by Bill 28, All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016…
Ten Incident Response Tips – Part 2
In Part 1 of this two-part series on data security incident response, we identified five “norms” to guide your incident response process…
Appellate Court Clarifies Use of Subsequent Conduct Evidence in Resolving Ambiguous Contract
In an important decision regarding the law of contractual interpretation, Shewchuk v. Blackmont Capital Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal considered when the subsequent conduct of parties can be considered in interpreting a contract made between those parties…
Ten Incident Response Tips – Part 1
Responding to a data security incident is as much art as science. Whatever size your organization and whatever risks you face, you should have a detailed incident response plan to guide the efforts of a defined incident response team…
Appellate Court Refuses to Extend Time for Filing of Leave to Appeal: Case Lacked Merit
In Reid v College of Chiropractors of Ontario, the Ontario Court of Appeal recently reviewed the test for extending time to file leave to appeal. The Court dismissed the motion for an extension of time on the basis that the proposed appeal lacked merit. The decision provides a helpful summary of the test for extending…
When are Commissions Required to be Paid?
Carefully drafted commission plans can limit an employer’s liability for commission payments to terminated or laid-off employees. Other than a regulation that prescribes set reconciliation periods and minimum wages for commissioned automobile salespeople (see section 28 of O. Reg. 285/01), the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (Act) says very little about commissions. The Act does treat…