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 […]
The Pitfalls of Unpaid Internships: What You Need to Know
With the summer months now upon us, many employers have brought on, or will look to hire summer interns. Some of these interns will be hired through a school program, where they fall under an exclusion outlined in section 3(5) of the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), specifically for students of a program approved by a […]
Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs: The Proposed Shake-up to Ontario Labour Laws
On May 30, 2017, The Ontario government announced a new, proposed, legislation, The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act 2017. The proposal includes many amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) as well as changes to the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA). It is important to keep in mind that these are all proposed changes […]
The Ugly Truth: Discriminatory Hiring Practices
Delta Staffing Services came under fire recently when they posted a job ad stating male employees would receive higher compensation than their female counterparts, CityNews reports. As well, for a similar posting, Delta noted they were preferably looking for those of Asian and European cultures. Pay equity (equal pay for male jobs and female jobs), […]
The Document that Could Save You: The Importance of an Employment Agreement
In the not so distant past, it was common practice that an employment relationship begin with a simple “spit handshake” – a symbolic gesture showing both parties have nothing in their hands (or up their sleeves), and that a person’s word was their word. Fast forward to the present day of employment and labour laws, […]