What Happens When Child Care and Work Conflict – More Guidance for Employers
February 8, 2010 at 9:00 pm by: Wendi Watts
Posted in Arbitration, Employment Law, Human Rights by: Wendi Watts
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To What Extent Must Employees’ Family Obligations Be Accommodated?
February 1, 2010 at 9:00 pm by: Northern Exposure
Your employee is a single parent. He has to drop his children off at school each morning. They can’t be dropped off earlier than 9 a.m. He has to be back at the school by 5 p.m. to pick them up from their after-school care. He has no family to assist him. Is he covered by the family-status protections in some provinces’ human rights legislation? Do you have to accommodate him?
Posted in Employment Law, Human Rights, Termination, Termination and Dismissal by: Northern Exposure
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When Must Individual Contractors Receive Reasonable Notice?
January 25, 2010 at 9:00 pm by: Northern Exposure
A recent appeal court decision demonstrates once again that defining work relationships is far from an exact science. Somewhere on the spectrum between employees and independent contractors, we have seen the emergence of “dependent contractors.” What hasn’t been entirely clear is how one determines “dependent contractor” status. Nor what that status means in terms of the worker’s entitlements on termination.
Posted in Employment Contracts, Employment Law, Termination by: Northern Exposure
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Mandatory Retirement Being Retired across Canada
January 18, 2010 at 9:00 pm by: Derek Knoechel
Mandatory retirement has a long and storied history as part of the Canadian labor system. As we enter 2010, it appears that a new chapter is being written, one in which mandatory retirement is the exception rather than the norm.
Posted in Compensation, Benefits, and Pensions, Employment Law, Workplace Policies by: Derek Knoechel
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Ontario Adds to Broad Canadian Harassment/Violence Laws
January 11, 2010 at 9:00 pm by: Northern Exposure
By Alix Herber
Canada’s two largest provinces — Ontario and Quebec — now have laws requiring employers to seek to provide workplaces free of “harassment.” No longer limited to human rights-related harassment, the term is broadly defined in these laws. Further, Ontario’s new law extends beyond harassment. It, like the federal law, also will require antiviolence policies and programs. These laws will apply regardless of whether a workplace has any prior history of such problems.
Posted in Employment Law, Human Rights by: Northern Exposure
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Drug and Alcohol Testing – What’s Permitted in the Canadian Workplace
December 28, 2009 at 9:00 pm by: Northern Exposure
Last year we reported on a case where a Canadian employer was ordered to reinstate an employee who had tested positive for marijuana following a verbal altercation with his employer. Why? Because drug addiction is considered a disability in Canada. And individuals who suffer from addiction are protected from discrimination under human rights legislation.
Posted in Employment Regulation, Human Rights, Privacy by: Northern Exposure
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Does Temporary Layoff Result in Right to Severance Pay?
December 21, 2009 at 9:00 pm by: Northern Exposure
In early 2008, the owner of a dental practice, having recently purchased the business, faced some difficult choices. Given what appeared to be a temporary downturn in revenues, the owners decided on a temporary layoff.
Posted in Canadian Economy and the Workplace, Employment Law, Employment Regulation, Termination, Termination and Dismissal by: Northern Exposure
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Wal-Mart Allowed to Close Unionized Store: Supreme Court of Canada
December 14, 2009 at 9:00 pm by: Northern Exposure
Posted in Canada Supreme Court decisions, Union-Labor Relations by: Northern Exposure
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When Employee Privacy and Social Media Collide
December 7, 2009 at 9:00 pm by: Northern Exposure
By Lyne Duhaime
An IBM employee from Quebec made headlines last month when her disability benefits were cut off by the insurance company after it saw pictures of her on Facebook. Despite being off work for depression, the employee had posted photos of herself on vacation at the beach and at a Chippendale’s show. When IBM’s disability carrier saw the photos on Facebook, it cut off her disability benefits. In its view, the employee no longer appeared to be disabled within the meaning of the insurance contract.
Posted in Employment Law, Employment Regulation, Pre-Employment and Hiring, Privacy, Workplace Policies by: Northern Exposure
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Federally Regulated Employees Required to Cross Another Union’s Picket Line
November 30, 2009 at 9:00 pm by: Northern Exposure
By Ida Martin
Imagine there is a group of federal government employees that are engaging in a lawful strike. Because of the physical location of your workplace, your employees can’t get to work without crossing the picket line. Your workers are unionized and have decided they won’t cross the picket line of the striking federal employees. As such, they are not at work. Can you require them to cross the picket line? What if there is a clause in your collective agreement that states that the company doesn’t expect members of the union to cross a picket line? Can you still insist?
Posted in Picketing, Strikes/Lockouts, Union-Labor Relations by: Northern Exposure
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