In the world of employment law, terminations tend to steal the spotlight. But what about when the employee is the one ending the employment relationship?
Here is an overview of the law of resignation, and what employers need to know when they receive an employee’s “two weeks’ notice”.
The dust has settled post-pandemic and employees are out of sorts. Turnover is high across all industries as people regroup and sort through what they want out of their career.
We regularly hear about employees resisting commuting, moving on quicker than ever when the job gets difficult, and when regular feedback gets uncomfortable.
Woohoo! Mandatory policies, postings, training, legally enforceable contracts… Actually, no client has ever told us they LOVE thinking through legal compliance for their workplace. Rather, it’s the thing you have to do on top of the other revenue-generating tasks to keep the lights on.
For owner-operator employers, there is often no one to delegate this to. The internet is full of best practices and comprehensive lists of what to do, but it all eats up your time to figure out.
When bringing people in to work with your business, the distinction between an “employee” and an “independent contractor” is not just an administrative detail; it carries significant legal implications, particularly in the realms of tax and employment law.
If a court, the Ministry of Labour, or the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) finds a worker has been “mischaracterized” by being treated as an independent contractor when they are an employee, this can have serious and expensive implications.
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.
As employment lawyers, we all have times when we wish our employer-side clients had come to us for advice before making certain decisions. There’s a lot that can be done to protect an employer who seeks assistance early in the process – especially if it involves a termination. Costs can be reduced, risks can be mitigated, and whole potential areas for future disputes can be eliminated entirely with careful consideration and planning.
The result of failing to get proper employment law advice can be catastrophic. Not only can it be exceedingly expensive, but the reputational damage for an organization can be profound. And if you’re an employer who has made some mistakes in the process – do not double down on those errors by adopting unreasonable and ill-supported litigation strategies. The patience of Canadian courts has worn thin and there appears to be an increased willingness to award moral and punitive damages, as well as substantial cost awards, when finding that employers have behaved badly. 2023 has produced some truly prodigious decisions on this front. Here are my top three 2023 cases in which employers f***ed around and found out.
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In the world of employment law, terminations tend to steal the spotlight. But what about when the employee is the one ending the employment relationship?…
Employers often wonder how to handle requests for leaves of absence from employees. This requires understanding the various options available depending on the terms of…
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