Ontario Superior Court Indicates that Notice Awards are on the Rise
For years, the conventional belief was that 24 months was the upper limit for common law notice awards in Ontario. However, in a recent case, Dawe v Equitable Life Insurance Company, the Plaintiff, Mr. Dawe, was not only awarded with a massive 30-month notice period, but the Justice speaking for the court in this case […]
Ontario Labour Relations Board Provides Further Clarity on Severance Pay Obligations
Pursuant to Section 64 of the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”), Ontario employers must provide an employee who has been terminated without cause, with “severance pay” where the employee has five or more years of service and the employer has a payroll of at least $2.5 million. However, in the recent decision in Doug […]
Ontario Superior Court Awards Over $600,000 for Wrongful Dismissal & Extraordinary Damages
In a recent decision, Ruston v. Keddco MFG, the Ontario Superior Court provided the Plaintiff, Mr. Ruston, with a massive award due to the Defendant Company, Keddco’s egregious mistreatment of their former employee. Mr. Ruston was the President of Keddco and was terminated due to fraud allegations. However, Keddco failed to provide Mr. Ruston with […]
Ontario Superior Court: Exceptional Notice Awards Will Be Awarded in Cases with Exceptional Circumstances
It is time to say goodbye to the 24-month upper limit on common law notice periods. The writing has been on the wall since 2015, as we have seen notice awards slowly creeping up from this high-water mark, with the courts providing notice awards of 26 and 27 months in a number of recent cases.[1][2][3] […]
Cannabis in Ontario: An Update
With cannabis legally available for purchase from approved Ontario retailers as of today (April 1, 2019) it will now be even more accessible for those looking to purchase it for recreational use. While many municipalities decided to prohibit retail locations within their jurisdiction, most voted to allow them. You can see the full list here […]
Domestic or sexual harassment leaves: A natural evolution
By: Miriam Anbar| Lawyer’s Daily As the #MeToo movement went viral at the end of 2017, workplaces across the country took note. Times were changing, and employers needed to embark on a new era of workplace policies and conduct — whether or not they were ready for it. The year 2018 introduced a number of […]
Dazed and Confused
By: Arjun Dhir| Dialogue Magazine On October 17, 2018, the Cannabis Act officially came into effect, permitting Canadians to legally purchase, possess and consume recreational cannabis. Amidst the excitement, a report published by the Conference Board of Canada indicated that more than half of Canadian employers expressed concerns about the potential effects that this significant legislative […]
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 […]
Ontario Hockey League: Pay to play
By: Jordan Rodney & Miriam Anbar for The Lawyer’s Daily For most Canadians, hockey is in our blood. Employment laws and regulations? Not so much. Having said that, employment applies to almost all of us, from the CEO down to the student packing groceries part-time at your local store. So why are some employees’ rights […]
Should Your Holiday Parties Be Lit?
By Alice Chen for Yourworkplace.ca Mary Jane may be attending your next holiday event Alcohol has long been a mainstay at the office social event, whether it is an in-house party or a dinner out. But the federal government’s decision to legalize cannabis — which came into effect this past October — added a new […]