In Ontario, you cannot have a non-competition clause with employees except in very narrow circumstances. On February 2, 2022, we posted about one part of the Working for Workers Act (“Act”) that came into force in Ontario in December 2021. The Act requires employers to create a policy about the employee’s right to disconnect. You ...
On February 16, 2022, Dr. Henry updated her earlier Order regarding workplace health and safety. Employers are no longer required to allow employees to work from home. Specifically, the earlier Order said: “An employer must allow workers to work from their private residence, if possible, given the nature of the work involved, unless the employer ...
In a new decision this year (2022 BCHRT 22), the BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed another complaint made by a person refusing to wear a mask. The customer attended at the business in October 2020 for an appointment and spoke with a screening employee at the front door. The screener asked the customer to wear ...
In his October 27, 2021 blog post Scott Marcinkow commented on Dr. Henry’s notice to all healthcare workers, even those working in private practice, that they will need to be vaccinated in future. You can read the post here. On February 9, 2022, Dr. Henry announced the highlights of this new order. In summary, all regulated ...
Employers often want to avoid paying bonuses or other incentive payments to employees after they are terminated. The best way to achieve this is to consider the problem in advance and create a proper written employment agreement and written bonus plan/incentive policy. In late 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada released an important decision in Matthews ...
This month, Ontario became the first Canadian jurisdiction to require many employers to create a policy relating to an employee’s right to disconnect after hours. This “right” is often understood as the right of an employee not to be expected to engage in business activity outside of working hours (e.g. answering work calls or emails). ...
Further to our blog post of November 25, 2021 regarding upcoming amendments to the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”) to introduce paid sick leave in BC (you can read it here), as of January 1, 2022 employers in BC are required to provide 5 days of paid sick leave to their employees. Here are some ...
On November 24, the BC government announced details of its plan to require employers in BC to permanently provide paid sick days for their employees. Specifically, the BC Employment Standards Act (the “ESA”) will be amended to require that employers allow employees to take 5 paid sick days per year. The amendments will take effect ...
On November 8, 2021, the Chair of the BC Human Rights Tribunal announced an emergency practice direction. Specifically, the Tribunal is not allowing respondents to apply to dismiss complaints for the next few months. This applies to newly filed complaints where the Tribunal has not yet notified the parties of a deadline to file an ...
