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High Heels in the Workplace could be High Risk for Employers
Co-author: Teri Treiber, Articling Student Although high heeled shoes can certainly look great, wearing them for a long period of time can cause pain and discomfort, as many women know. For employers, particularly in certain industries such as the hospitality...
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Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada: What is a “Just Dismissal”?
On July 9th, the Supreme Court granted leave to appeal from the judgment rendered by the Federal Court of Appeal in Wilson v. Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. See our previous thoughts on the Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling. This appeal...
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Dealing with Denial: Alberta CA rules on accommodation of employees on who deny addiction problem
A new decision by the Alberta Court of Appeal is providing assistance for employers to deal with the situation where an employee, who works in a safety sensitive work environment, fails to disclose his drug use because of his or...
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The Trend to Higher Damage Awards at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal: Employers Beware
A recent decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal sets a new record for general damages. The facts of the case are particularly troubling involving two migrant sisters who alleged serious and ongoing sexual solicitations and advances by the owner....
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Alberta Case Provides Precedent for Summary Dismissal of Long Serving Supervisor
Taken individually, none of the things that a long-serving manager did justified dismissal with cause. However, when the employee’s conduct was considered collectively and combined with the employee’s lack of credibility at trial, an Alberta court denied the employee’s wrongful...
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California Decision Finds that Uber Driver is an Employee
In a recent decision that has been the subject of considerable commentary in the United States, the California Labor Commissioner held that an Uber driver was an employee rather than an independent contractor. While this decision is not a binding...
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Employer’s right to post employee pictures in the workplace
Author: Raphaël Viens Côté Employer’s right to post employee pictures in the workplace: Syndicat des travailleuses et travailleurs de Brasserie Labatt (CSN) et Brasserie Labatt du Canada, s.c.s. (grief collectif), 2015 QCTA 119 The Union representing Labatt’s employees of the...
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A Word of Caution for Employers: Unauthorized Deductions from an Employee’s Wages May Amount to Constructive Dismissal
It is generally understood that employers are required by law to make certain deductions from employees’ wages, including for income tax, employment insurance premiums, Canada Pension Plan contributions, union dues or other amounts authorized by a collective agreement. Where authorized...
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Change a comin’? Provincial government kicks off public consultation process on reforms to the Labour Relations Act, 1994 and Employment Standards Act, 2000
Making good on its promise to undertake a review of the province’s key labour and employment statutes, the Ministry of Labour began public consultations on June 16, 2015 on how to modernize the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) and the Labour...
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Termination for Employee Misconduct Outside the Workplace
In his November 2014 Communique “Let’s Take This Outside: Can Employers Discipline Employees for Off-Duty Conduct?”, Cole Lefebvre canvassed a number of cases in which the courts had to assess terminations employee misconduct outside the workplace. This topic has been...
