On April 16, 2021, the Ontario government extended the declared emergency made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) as well as the Stay-at-Home Order until May 5, 2021. Additional restrictions for the Rules for Areas in Stage 1 (Shutdown Zone), made under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020,…
Insights
Hicks Morley publishes a number of materials, both electronic and print, on issue-specific and sector-specific topics of interest to our clients. Our insights section has links to all of our various publications, updates and blogs, both current and historical, to keep you informed of developments in the law that impact human resources.
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Reaching Out
Reaching Out – Fifteenth Edition
· 12 min readDear Friends, We are back with another edition of Reaching Out. With 2020 behind us and some light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic tunnel, we thought it appropriate to reconnect with our Social Services clients with a Spring edition of Reaching Out. We chose not to publish Reaching Out last year as we…
FTR Now
On April 7, 2021, the Ontario government declared its third emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and issued its second Stay-at-Home Order under that Act, effective April 8 at 12:01 a.m. Stay-at-Home Order (Order) The Order is similar in wording to the Stay-at-Home Order issued in January 2021, with some minor modifications….
FTR Now
Ontario Tables 2021 Budget
· 5 min readOn March 24, 2021, the Ontario government tabled its 2021 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy (Budget), and introduced supporting implementation legislation, Bill 269, Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021. In this FTR Now, we highlight certain aspects of the Budget that are of broad interest to…
School Board Update
On March 5, 2021, Arbitrator Susan Stewart released an award (Award) between the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (Board) and ETFO dealing with preparation time (prep time) for remote learning elementary teachers in its virtual classes during the current 2020-21 school year. The grievance alleged that the Board had failed to provide prep time in…
School Board Update
On February 22, 2021, the Ontario Ministry of Education (Ministry) released the much anticipated Policy/Program Memorandum No. 165 (PPM 165) regarding “School Board Teacher Hiring Practices.” PPM 165 comes in response to the revocation of Ontario Regulation 274/12 “Hiring Practices” and will replace the Interim policy for school board hiring practices. The PPM is effective…
Human Resources Legislative Update
On February 10, 2021, the Ontario government published a consultation paper seeking stakeholder input regarding possible changes to the exemptions from the Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 (Act). Because the information disclosed as a result of police record checks is often used to assist in determining suitability for employment, employers may wish to offer their…
School Board Update
For 20 years, beginning in 1997, school boards and teachers’ federations agreed that class size limits pertaining to elementary school students needed to be met only by and on a “determination date” identified in the first half of the fall term. Following the negotiation of its 2017 Extension Agreement and an associated Letter of Commitment from the Crown, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) challenged this mutual understanding in two related arbitrations. Two arbitration awards and one judicial review later, the issue has now been definitively resolved – in favour of the school boards’ interpretation and the continuation of the historical compliance system.
Human Resources Legislative Update
On February 3, 2021, the Ontario Minister of Education announced the dates for return to in-person learning for the remaining schools that have not yet opened for in-person learning. On Monday February 8, elementary and secondary schools located in the following public health units will return to in-person learning: Brant County Health Unit Chatham-Kent Public…
Human Resources Legislative Update
Ontario Publishes Updated Tool for Screening Workers
· 2 min readThe Ontario government has updated its COVID-19 tool for screening workers before they go to work each day. The “COVID-19 Screening Tool for Businesses and Organizations (Screening Workers),” issued by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, contains several changes of note to employers. These include: a reference to the regulatory screening requirement under O. Reg….