Top 10 Employment Law Cases and Developments of 2018
1. Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act (“Bill 148”) Came into Effect 2018 started off with a bang as the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act (“Bill 148”) came into effect on January 1, 2018. Bill 148 resulted in the most significant amendments to Ontario’s employment legislation, the Employment Standards Act (the “ESA”), that the province had seen […]
The “Bill 148” Rollercoaster Comes to a Crashing Halt
Revised: November 26, 2018 That loud crash you heard? Don’t worry – that was just Ontario Premier Doug Ford derailing the province’s least favorite rollercoaster the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, colloquially known as “Bill 148”. Background For those of you just tuning in, Bill 148 was originally introduced by the Ontario government in May […]
Overview of Bill 3 – Pay Transparency Act, 2018
Emerging from recent trends surrounding gender-based wage disparity, Ontario’s new Pay Transparency Act, 2018 (the “Act”) is set to come into force on January 1, 2019. This Act aims to provide transparency within workplaces as it relates to compensation by: prohibiting inquiries within the recruitment process regarding compensation history; requiring full transparency of salary ranges […]
An Employment Law Perspective on the 2018 Provincial Election
Tomorrow is Election Day in Ontario and given the great ideological disparity between the two frontrunners, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives and Andrea Horwath’s New Democratic Party, we here at Rodney Employment Law are eagerly awaiting the results, to gain a better understanding of the direction the new party will be taking the province. While all […]
What Employers Need to Know about Ontario’s New Pay Transparency Act
On April 26, 2018, the Ontario government announced that with the passing of Bill 3, Pay Transparency Act, 2018, the province is the first in Canada to introduce pay transparency legislation. Set to come into force on January 1, 2019, the Act imposes a number of significant requirements for employers in Ontario, relating to the […]
The Courts Have Spoken: Termination Clauses MUST be “Compliant” “Clear” and “Unambiguous”
In the past month, the Ontario Superior Court and Ontario Court of Appeal have released two decisions that have continued the recent trend of overturning termination agreements in favour of the employee. Recent Case Law If you recall, earlier this year we wrote a blog about a significant case, Wood v. Fred Deeley Imports Ltd., […]
Communicating Through Text Messages with Employees: A Cautionary Tale
Written by: Arjun Dhir Email, text message, iMessage, WhatsApp – these are some of the many means of communication in today’s digital age which continue to expand. In the employment sphere, technology has rapidly changed the way in which an organization communicates with its employees. Gone are the days of carefully drafting an email or […]
A Toxic Environment in Tinseltown
Written by: Arjun Dhir In the wake of a string of accusations ranging from assault and sexual harassment to rape, The Weinstein Company recently announced that it has fired its co-founder, Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Over the past three decades, Weinstein was one of Hollywood’s most powerful and influential executives, as his movies have […]
Did the Employee Quit? When a Resignation is actually a Termination.
Consider you have a disgruntled employee working for you and you suspect he wants to quit. However, you are also prepared to terminate him. One day, the employee verbally mentions to you that they might just get up and leave, so you tell them to go ahead. Three weeks later, a lawyer’s letter lands on […]
Pay Your Employees Before You Have to Pay Your Time
Recently, Brampton-based employer Peter David Sinisa Sesek was handed a jail sentence that is rarely seen, The Star reports. Sesek was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $20,000 fine for failing to comply with an order to pay employees, something that rarely happens in Canada. Back in 2015, Sesek had received an order […]