On October 27, 2009, the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, announced proposed changes to the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (“PBSA”) and the associated Regulations. The PBSA and Regulations apply to pensions provided to employees employed in shipping, railway, air transportation, radio broadcasting, banks and other businesses within the legislative authority of the…
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Kerry Decision to be Released this Friday August 7th
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has announced that its decision in Nolan v. Kerry (Canada) Inc. will be released at 9:45 a.m. on Friday August 7, 2009. It is anticipated that the SCC decision will provide much needed guidance on a number of important issues, including: the use of pension fund assets to pay…
Covert Surveillance Guidelines for Federally Regulated Employers
On May 27, 2009 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada issued an OPC Guideline Document: Guidance on Covert Video Surveillance in the Private Sector. The Guideline Document outlines the Commissioners recommendations to private sector organizations engaging in covert surveillance in the course of commercial activity, as well as to federally regulated employers engaging…
Prior Approval for Commuted Value Transfers Now Required
Due to recent changes to the Regulations under the Ontario Pension Benefits Act, administrators of underfunded defined benefit pension plans registered in Ontario must in certain situations obtain the approval of the Superintendent of Financial Services of Ontario (the “Superintendent”) before transferring any part of the commuted value of a terminated member’s deferred pension or…
Access and Production Requirements and Records Possessed by Faculty Members
The Canadian Association of University Teachers recently published a memorandum about records in the possession of faculty members that raises some significant issues for Ontario universities. In a memorandum dated April 8, 2009, and now published on the internet, the association states, “Based on collective agreements, memorandum of agreements, faculty handbooks and on past practice…
Employer Bulletin: Influenza A(H1N1)
You are all undoubtedly aware of the potential Influenza A(H1N1) (or “H1N1 virus”) pandemic that is currently underway.[1] While it is unknown at present just how serious or widespread this situation will become, employees are already expressing concerns, and it is important for employers to monitor the situation and to be prepared to respond as…
Medical Information Management For Employers
We would like to build this bulletin around the diagram below, which illustrates a very common model by which employers manage medical information – i.e., one in which the employer seeks information from an employee’s treating physician through its own medical adviser. The point we’d like to make is that role definition is key to…
Responding to Disclosure Demands at the Bargaining Table: Employer Rights and Obligations
As we enter 2009, many Social Services organizations are looking ahead to upcoming negotiations with unions for the renewal of their collective agreements. Some of our clients have already reported an increasing trend among unions to initiate broad disclosure requests well in advance of actual bargaining. However, employers in Ontario are not necessarily obliged to…
Ontario Government Announces Pension Funding Relief
Spurred on by the current economic unrest, the Ontario Government announced yesterday that it will introduce legislation in early 2009 to provide pension plans with solvency funding relief. Following on the heels of the release of the Report of the Expert Commission on Pensions, the proposed temporary solvency relief is intended to better ensure the…
Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions Releases Report
The Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions (the “Expert Commission”) released its much anticipated Report “A Fine Balance” to the public today. The full Report is 222 pages and contains 142 recommendations “for reforming and reinvigorating Ontario’s pension system”. HIGHLIGHTS OF KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS New Regulatory Regime Recommended The Expert Commission recommended that the current…