Important update for all federal employers! Amendments to the Canada Labour Code are now in force as of February 1, 2024. Do you fall into this category? And if so, what does this mean for you?
Federal Employers
As we’ve discussed in a previous blog, the Canada Labour Code is a federal law which sets out minimum employment standards for sectors that fall under federal power.
As we start a new year, it’s one of the most common times for an employer to review its structure, payroll, and overall organizational needs. While it’s no secret that many companies are doing mass terminations right now, a delicate trend that we are also seeing is mass terminations while simultaneously hiring new employees. This situation is not only challenging from a legal perspective but also from an employee morale standpoint. This blog post delves into Ontario employment law considerations surrounding terminating while also hiring.
Understanding Mass Terminations under Ontario Employment Law
Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) provides the minimum legal framework for mass terminations. According to the ESA, a mass termination occurs when an employer terminates 50 or more employees at a single establishment within a four-week period. Employers are required to provide written notice to the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development and to each affected employee.
In Ontario, employers must abide by the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to ensure the safety of their workplace and workers. One legal requirement under OHSA that we often get questions about is an employer’s obligations around the Joint Health and Safety Committees (JHSC). Here are some practical tips for employers to meet these obligations.
How to build your Joint Health and Safety Committee?
The number of employees your workplace has will determine the size of your committee. For this blog, we will focus on workplaces that are over 20 employees but under 50 employees, indicating that your JHSC needs to be made up of two members. One worker member and one management member. The worker member must be selected by their fellow workers and is typically someone who is a good role model and has shown an interest in the health and safety of the workplace. The management member must be selected by the employer and should have similar interests. At least one of the members from each category must be certified, meaning they have completed mandatory certification training. The names and work locations of the members must also be posted at your workplace.
If you’ve ever explored SpringLaw’s Teams’ Bios, it’s no secret that we are huge pet lovers over here! And, being a virtual law firm, we are lucky enough to work with our furry friends daily. For workplaces that are in-office or hybrid, we have seen various workplaces try to replicate this joy by introducing pet-friendly policies to allow employees to bring their pets to work. For animal lovers, the benefits of bringing your pet to work days may be obvious including improved morale, reduced stress, and even increased productivity. However, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies for all employees and if you’re thinking about rolling out a Pet Policy at your workplace, there are some very important legal factors to consider before doing so.
Is your workspace appropriate for animals?
First and foremost, you need to determine if your workspace is pet-friendly. Generally, a smaller office setting works great for pets and can limit the number of pets onsite at once. A larger organization, with a larger workforce and bigger office space, may not be realistic if all employees who want to bring their pets to work, actually do so. Also, bringing a pet to a factory, construction site, or other non-office workspaces can cause serious hazards and would not be an appropriate workspace for a Pet Policy.
In this current work climate, it’s all about work-life balance. Employees know what they want and if it’s not being offered at one job, they will search for it elsewhere. This has employers scrambling to offer higher salaries, greater benefits, hybrid or remote work options, or even four-day work weeks to keep up with the competitive job market. All these perks seem fine and dandy to attract employees but if you’re considering a shift to a four-day workweek, it’s important to know the legal implications this could impose.
How do Four-Day Workweeks Work?
Four-day workweeks can be implemented in different ways depending on the nature of your business. Typically, employees work their same (8-hour) workdays but only four days a week, meaning they are only working 32-hour workweeks, while still receiving the same pay and benefits. Alternatively, some businesses have changed their daily working hours to 10-hour days but only four days a week, amounting to a usual 40-hour workweek. Another tactic is employees agreeing to a reduced-hour workweek while also reducing their pay to compensate for the difference.
Back in September, we delved into the issue of “quiet quitting” and discussed how employers can manage their quiet quitting employees. Recently, we’ve seen a new, flip-side, trend of employee’s “loud quitting”.
No employer wants a disgruntled employee making a dramatic exit from their workplace and potentially spewing ill words about the workplace. So, here are some legal tactics for employers to mitigate potential damages to their company or reputation related to loud quitting employees.
What is Loud Quitting?
“Loud quitting” refers to an employee making a very public and disruptive departure from their job, often with the intent to call attention to perceived injustices or mismanagement at their workplace. This can take various forms, such as dramatic farewell emails, social media posts, public speeches, or even videos. While these methods may give an employee a sense of vindication or catharsis, they can potentially cause damage to a company’s reputation and morale among the remaining employees.
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