As first discussed in our FTR Now of November 7, 2012 “Ontario Court of Appeal Decision Rewrites the Pension Pre-Retirement Death Benefit Regime“, the decision in Carrigan v. Carrigan Estate fundamentally altered the interpretation of spousal rights and priorities relating to payment of pre-retirement death benefits. The Court of Appeal awarded the pre-retirement death benefit payable under…
Publication Name: News
Tattoos/Piercings Part of an Employee’s Identity: Arbitrator
A recent arbitration award has found that a hospital’s dress code policy for unionized employees was unenforceable as it prohibited certain body piercings and required large tattoos to be covered. The arbitrator found that tattoos and piercings are a part of an employee’s identity and that the restrictions in the dress code policy were an…
HRTO Affirms Its Primary Function is to Determine Whether Code Breached
An offer of monetary compensation by an employer to end a proceeding before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario was rejected by the Tribunal. While the Tribunal noted that it would be expeditious to stop the hearing on the basis of this offer, it would neither be fair nor just: the applicant had not agreed…
Unjust Dismissal in the Context of an Employment Contract Notice Provision
Does an employee who has left the bargaining unit and entered into a binding contract with an employer have access to the unjust dismissal provisions of the Canada Labour Code when his employment is terminated? In a recent case, an adjudicator answered no: the terms of the contract were clear regarding termination, the employee was…
Ontario Court Provides Useful Guidance to Employers on Supervision and Training Obligations
The Ontario Court of Justice recently overturned a trial decision which convicted an employer of various infractions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, finding that numerous errors of law had been made. Of interest for employers is the Court’s conclusion an employer is not obligated to provide training to a worker regarding a specific…
Worker Receiving WSIB Benefits Cannot Claim Monetary Relief under Collective Agreement
A recent arbitration decision considered the historic trade-off made through the enactment of workers’ compensation legislation in Ontario almost 100 years ago, when, in general terms, a worker was barred from suing his or her employer for a workplace accident or occupational disease, in exchange for which the worker would receive benefits from the (now)…
Health and Safety Case May Clarify Employer Obligations
The Alberta Court of Appeal recently granted leave to appeal in a case which will be of interest to employers generally, to clarify the scope of their health and safety obligations, and more particularly to employers who host events at which they rent equipment for use by guests. An Alberta employer had rented a calf-roping…
Supreme Court of Canada to Hear Appeal in Mounted Police Association Case
The Supreme Court of Canada will be providing further clarification on the freedom of association guarantee in the Charter and the scope of collective bargaining. The Court has recently granted leave to appeal in Mounted Police Association of Ontario v. Canada, where the Court of Appeal for Ontario found that a separate labour relations scheme…
Majority of Divisional Court Overturns Expulsion of Student at Private School
What happens when a private school student smokes marijuana in his residence on the night before his final day in his final year of high school? This issue arose in a recent case before the Divisional Court, where the school allowed the student to withdraw (without his private school diploma and without permission to attend…
An Aging Workforce and Hiring Practices
In a time where the workforce is aging, employers must ensure that their recruitment and interview processes involve objective criteria for assessing a job candidate’s qualifications, and do not discriminate against a candidate on the basis of age, either directly or indirectly. The jurisprudence of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario is clear that age…