On November 30, 2020, Bill 214, Time Amendment Act, 2020, a Private Member’s Bill, received Royal Assent. It has not yet been proclaimed into force. If proclaimed into force, the Bill would amend the Time Act to make the time now called “daylight savings time” the “standard time” year round. In addition, the Bill would…
Practice Area: Employment Law
Adjusting to Ontario’s New Colour-Coded COVID-19 Zones
The Ontario government has enacted new regulations that amend the Rules for Areas in Stage 2 and 3. The regulations aim to implement the recently announced reopening framework. The regulations:
Ontario Releases New Framework for COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions
On November 3, 2020, the Ontario government released its COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open (Framework) which the government states “will serve as an early warning system allowing [it] to scale up and scale back public health restrictions on a regional or community basis in response to surges and waves of COVID-19.” The Framework will apply to businesses and organizations that operate within the applicable public health units, and it also contains sector-specific health and safety measures.
Supreme Court Finds Inability of Pension Plan Members to “Buy Back” Full Pension Credit for Job-Sharing Service to be Unconstitutional
On October 16, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Fraser v. Canada (Attorney General). Justice Abella, writing for the majority, held that the inability of members who participated in a job-sharing program to “buy back” pension credits under the employer’s pension plan amounted to discrimination on the basis of sex, contrary to s. 15(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In separate dissenting reasons, Justices Brown and Rowe on the one hand and Justice Côté on the other held that the appeal ought to have been dismissed, although for different reasons.
York Region Moves to Modified Stage 2, Further Changes to Stage 2 Rules
On October 16, 2020, the Ontario government announced that it is moving York Region into the Rules for Areas in Stage 2, effective October 19, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in that area. This is in effect for 28 days. We discussed the modifications made to the Rules for…
New Version of Employment Standards Poster is Available
The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development recently published a new version of the Employment Standards in Ontario poster (Version 9.0). The poster contains information relating to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) with respect to minimum wage, hours and overtime, vacation time and pay, public holidays, leaves of absence and termination notice and…
Nadine Zacks Quoted in Canadian HR Reporter on Screening Workers for COVID
Canadian HR Reporter quoted Hicks Morley’s Nadine Zacks in a October 1, 2020 article titled “Are you screening workers for COVID?” Employers in Ontario are now required to apply a daily COVID-19 screening test to employees and essential visitors before they enter the workplace. As noted in the article, employers should keep appropriate records so…
COVID-19 Leave in Canada Labour Code to be Extended
Early on September 30, 2020, the federal House of Commons passed Bill C-4, COVID-19 Response Measures Act. It amends the Leave Related to COVID-19 provisions of the Canada Labour Code to extend the leave to September 25, 2021. It also enacts the Canada Recovery Benefits Act which establishes certain benefits as a result of COVID-19….
Lucy Wu
Lucy is a labour and employment lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Toronto office. She provides advice and representation to employers in both the private and public sector on a wide-range of labour, employment and human rights issues. Having held a management role prior to commencing law school, Lucy is uniquely positioned to assist employers and management in navigating various labour and employment issues.
Andrew J. Movrin
Andrew Movrin is a labour, employment and privacy lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Toronto office. He advises unionized and non-unionized employers across federally and provincially regulated sectors in both the public and private spheres.