New statutory leaves of absence available as of October 29, 2014
In our May 2, 2014 blog, we wrote about Bill 21, the Employment Standards Amendments Act (Leaves to Help Families), 2014, which introduced three new forms of statutorily-protected leaves to the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “Act”). The Bill...
Ontario Legislation Expanding Employer Accountability Re-Introduced
On October 29, 2014, Bill 18, Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, 2014, passed Second Reading in the Ontario legislature and was referred to the Standing Committee on General Government. Bill 118, if passed, would make several changes to...
WSIB Limits on Mental Stress Claims found Unconstitutional
In a decision released April 29, 2014, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (“WSIAT”) declared certain provisions of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (“WSIA”) unconstitutional. The decision (indexed as December No. 2157/09) involved a nurse who was...
Three New Leaves of Absence are effective on October 29, 2014 under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000
On October 29, 2014, the Ontario Employment Standards Amendment Act (Leaves to Help Families), 2014, Bill 21, comes into force. Bill 21 introduces three new leaves to Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “Act”): (1) Family Caregiver Leave, (2) Critically Ill Child...
Responsibility of Employers for Conduct of Third Parties
The Human Rights Tribunal of Alberta has had a summer of interesting decisions. Following on its decision respecting accommodation of childcare needs, already blogged about earlier this month, the Tribunal also released a decision respecting the responsibility of employers for...
Bill 3: Proposed Reform or an Infringement of Constitutional Rights?
Anyone who is unfamiliar with Québec’s current events and public debates might be puzzled by the sight of police officers wearing funky cargo pants and by fire trucks and subway cars covered with red stickers. No, these are not part...
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Update
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 ( “AODA”) develops, implements, and enforces accessibility standards with the aim of achieving accessibility for persons with disabilities with respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures, and premises. The Integrated...
Penalties for Workplace Accidents and Fatalities in Saskatchewan: The Landscape Has Changed
The Saskatchewan Employment Act, SS 201, c S-15.1 (the “SEA”) was passed by the provincial legislature and brought into force at the end of April, 2014. The passage of the SEA resulted in the consolidation of several pieces of labour...
‘All in the Family’ – Alberta Human Rights Tribunal follows Federal Court trend on family status
Regular readers of this blog know that one of the emerging issues in Human Rights Law in the workplace is the expanding definition of “family status” and the obligation of employers to accommodate the childcare needs of employees. The Federal...
An Eye on the Taxpayer, Part IV: End of Summer Thoughts
When we had our last check in for this instalment in February of this year, we had reviewed cost-containment and fiscal restraint facing a few different governments. As we are all aware, this is a problem not going away any...
