In a recent decision regarding the enforceability of a restrictive covenant, Donaldson Travel Inc. v. Murphy, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the decision of a motion judge that the restrictive covenant at issue constituted an unenforceable non-compete clause…
Practice Area: Employment Law
Minimum Wage to Increase on October 1, 2016
As previously reported, on October 1, 2016, the general minimum wage in Ontario will increase from $11.25 to $11.40 an hour. This minimum wage applies to most employees…
ESA Blitz This Fall to Target Repeat Violators
The Ministry of Labour has announced that from September 1, 2016 to October 31, 2016, employment standards officers will conduct blitzes targeting employers who have a history of non-compliance with the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). The blitz will primarily target sectors where there is a level of precarious employment, including personal care and professional…
Changing Workplaces Review – Focus on Temporary Help Agencies and their Clients
For the past month, we have reported extensively on the Interim Report issued on July 27, 2016 by the Special Advisors undertaking the Changing Workplaces Review. Previous issues of the FTR Now have reported on potential changes to Personal Emergency Leave, the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA), and the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA)…
Changing Workplaces Review – Focus on the Employment Standards Act, 2000
This is our fourth client update related to the Interim Report of the Special Advisors under Ontario’s Changing Workplaces Review (Review). In this FTR Now, we will focus on the options identified by the Special Advisors as potential changes to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA)…
Changing Workplaces Review – Focus on the Labour Relations Act, 1995
In our third client update related to the Interim Report of the Special Advisors under Ontario’s Changing Workplaces Review (Review), we focus on the options identified by the Special Advisors as potential changes to the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA)…
Changing Workplaces Review – Personal Emergency Leave
On July 27, 2016, we circulated an FTR Now advising clients of the release of the Interim Report of the Special Advisors who are conducting the Changing Workplaces Review (Review). In this, our first follow-up FTR Now, we will focus on Personal Emergency Leave (PEL) under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) as that entitlement is being singled out for earlier consideration in the Review…
Changing Workplaces Review – Interim Report Issued
Since May 2015, two government-appointed Special Advisors – Mr. Justice John Murray and Mr. Michael Mitchell – have been undertaking the Changing Workplaces Review (Review) to consider the changing nature of the workplace, the causes behind those changes, and whether the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA) and the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) need to be amended to meet challenges created by the changes…
Supreme Court of Canada Majority Rules “Unjust Dismissal” Provisions of Canada Labour Code Prohibit Without Cause Dismissals of Non-Unionized Employees
In an important decision for federally regulated employers, Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada has found the “unjust dismissal” provisions of Part III of the Canada Labour Code (Code) prohibit “without cause” dismissal of non-managerial, non-unionized employees with at least 12 months consecutive service, thereby allowing those employees to access the remedial relief (reasons, reinstatement, equitable relief) available under the Code.
Employer’s Egregious Mistreatment of Disabled Employee Leads to Increase in Damages Award
In a recent wrongful dismissal case, Strudwick v. Applied Consumer & Clinical Evaluations Inc., the Court of Appeal increased the amount of damages awarded to an employee from $113,782 to $240,000, for what the Court of Appeal described as “a marked departure from any conceivable standard of decent behaviour” in an employer’s treatment of its employee…