Droit du travail et de l'emploi

The issue of unpaid internships has been in the news again lately.  HootSuite, a Vancouver-based social media management company, ironically attracted widespread negative media attention after a post on social news website Reddit...

One of the most important issues facing employers today is the management of employees of the baby boomer generation who are nearing the end of their careers. Organizations need to consider their succession plans, while...

  The Ontario government has introduced legislation, which, if passed, would provide eligible employees with three new types of unpaid, job-protected leaves of absence in addition to those leaves already available under the...

In Sun Indalex Finance, LLC v. United Steelworkers, 2013 SCC 6, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned a decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal and held that members of an underfunded pension plan did not have priority over...

A recent labour arbitration decision addressed the question of whether an employer can prohibit employees from having “visible, excessive body piercings” and “large tattoos” while at work. At issue in Ottawa Hospital v. CUPE...

The Federal Court recently released its decision in Johnstone v. Canada (Border Services), an application for judicial review of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (“Tribunal”) decision allowing Ms. Johnstone’s human rights...

In June, 2011 we reported on the decision of the Divisional Court in Blue Mountain Resort v. Ontario in which the Court found that the drowning death of a guest of the resort was a fatality that should have been reported to the...

Have you ever wondered whether confidentiality clauses typically found in Minutes of Settlement have any teeth?  Well, then you will be interested in Tremblay v. 1168531 Ontario Inc., a case recently decided by the Human Rights...

Facts When Peter Bowes commenced his employment with Goss Power Products Ltd. (“Company”), he entered into a written employment contract which provided that he would receive six months’ notice or pay in lieu thereof if his...

The duty to accommodate can be one of the most perplexing (and vexing) issues faced by employers.  The recent Supreme Court of Canada (“Court”) decision of Moore v. British Columbia (Education), provides some insight into the...

A substitute teacher (“Plaintiff”) recently won her legal battle against a Québec school board that withdrew her name from the substitute teachers’ list, invoking erotic pictures of her taken some eight years earlier. The...

Conducting workplace investigations is an important but sometimes haphazard job of employers.  Whether to address allegations of workplace misconduct or performance issues, employers need to approach complaints and investigations in...

Yellow Pages Group Company dismissed the grievor, a sales consultant with 20 years of unblemished service, on the basis that he had abandoned his position because medical documentation supporting his work absence was two days late....

The Supreme Court of Canada has released its much anticipated decision in R. v. Cole, a criminal law case with potential implications for the privacy rights of employees in the workplace.  That being said, it is important to keep...

In light of the Government of Ontario’s intention of imposing a broader compensation freeze in the public sector through the proposed Protecting Public Services Act, 2012 (“PPSA, 2012”) (see our Communiqué dated September 27,...

The wage freeze that has swept over part of the broader public sector may now be spreading even further if the provincial government has its way.  The Ontario government yesterday announced plans to introduce legislation that will...

On September 13, 2012, the Ontario Human Rights Commission released “Minds that Matter: Report on the consultation on human rights, mental health and addictions”.  The Report compiled the findings of a province-wide consultation...

In response to the recommendations of an Expert Advisory panel commissioned to review Ontario’s occupational health and safety system, the Ministry of Labour published a new workplace poster titled “Health & Safety at Work –...

Effective January 1, 2013, nearly everyone who works in the construction industry must have Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“WSIB”) coverage.  While the law already requires employers to cover their workers, mandatory...