Employment relationships generally fall into one of three categories: employee, dependent contractor or independent contractor. Exclusivity is often a key consideration when determining what category applies. Recently, the Court of Appeal for Ontario considered the degree of exclusivity required in a dependent contractor relationship in Keenan v. Canac Kitchens Ltd. In Keenan, the plaintiffs had…
Tag: Reasonable Notice
Appeal Court Confirms that Employer’s Financial Circumstances Not a Factor in Determining Reasonable Notice
Are an employer’s financial circumstances a relevant consideration in determining the period of reasonable notice to which a wrongfully dismissed employee is entitled? This is the question the Court of Appeal for Ontario was asked to decide in Michela v. St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic School, where the motion judge had reduced damages in lieu of…
Raising the Bar – Tenth Edition
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” Albert Camus Dear Readers, Welcome to Fall 2015! We are excited to bring you this latest edition of RTB as you get ready for the changing of the season. In this edition, we have a very interesting collection of decisions that you need to…
Court Awards Consultant 8 Months’ Notice for 2 Years of Service
A recent case demonstrates that despite an agreement characterizing the relationship as one involving an independent contractor, there is always the risk upon termination that the relationship may ultimately be found to require…
Reaching Out – Seventh Edition
Dear Friends, Welcome to the Fall Edition of Reaching Out. As we fall back an hour, we want to make sure that you do not feel like you are “falling back” in terms of current issues in labour and employment law that may affect your workplaces. In that regard, we have a full docket of…
Notice Period for 70 Year Old Plaintiff Reduced
In a recent decision, Kotecha v. Affinia, the Court of Appeal for Ontario reduced the 24.5 months’ notice that had been awarded to a 70 year old plaintiff, holding that there were no exceptional circumstances to justify the award. While the Court found that it was unlikely the employee would obtain similar employment, the award…
Court Considers Deductibility of STD/LTD Benefits from Notice Award
The Ontario Superior Court recently considered the deductibility of short term disability (“STD”) and long-term disability (“LTD”) benefits from a notice award. It concluded that STD benefits could be deducted because the benefits were provided as salary continuance, the plaintiff had not contributed directly to their cost and the cost was absorbed by the employer…
Court of Appeal Reduces 24.5 Months’ Notice Granted to 70 Year Old Employee
In 2013, the decision of Kotecha v. Affinia garnered some attention among employment lawyers and human resources professionals. The motion judge’s award of 24.5 months’ notice (22 months’ notice, in addition to the 11 weeks of working notice already provided) to a 70 year old employee was seen by some as a potential indicator marking…
Reaching Out – First Edition
Dear Friends, The Social Service Sector Practice Group is pleased to introduce its first FTR Now edition of Reaching Out. Reaching Out is our Social Service Update designed to provide you with legal updates on new and developing cases, trends and topics that are relevant to your sector and which provide you with information and…