Many organizations (including charities, non-profits, and religious organizations) rely on a mixture of employees and volunteers to help them in their day to day functions. The volunteers can play a very important role in an organization, but volunteers can also be a source of potential liability. A volunteer could later claim to be an employee ...
Employers may be surprised to learn that not only do they have to manage actions of employees in the workplace, they also have to manage their actions outside of the workplace when it comes to sex between co-workers, particularly in situations where there is a power imbalance. Employers have a duty to provide workers with ...
McDonald’s has fired its CEO for having a relationship with an employee. Easterbrook is widely considered to be one of the best CEO’s in the restaurant industry. He has brought about significant changes to McDonald’s since taking the role and was objectively doing a great job. So how did the board of McDonald’s come to ...
Many compensation plans include entitlement to some form of variable pay or bonus, and typically with respect to a bonus the employer will take the position that it is discretionary, that is that they get to decide who gets the bonus, when they get it and how much they get. Some bonus plans are structured ...
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision provided clear direction to employers on what NOT to do when terminating employees. The Court of Appeal in Ruston v. Keddco Mfg. (2011) Ltd., 2019 ONCA 125 affirmed the trial decision. At trial the Court awarded $100,000 in punitive damages against the employer for the manner of termination ...
In our other blog posts, we have strongly encouraged employers to use written employment agreements for their employees. Here are some useful tips to consider when making employment offers with written employment agreements. When making a verbal or written employment offer to a prospective hire, make it clear that the offer is subject to the ...
On August 8, 2019 the Supreme Court declined an application for leave to appeal in the case of Envirocon Environment Services, ULC v. Suen. This is significant for employers in British Columbia and puts to rest a long debate about the appropriate test for discrimination on the basis of family status. If you aren’t already ...
Many employers ask if they can prevent an employee from competing with them or soliciting clients after they leave their employment. There are many reasons that employers will want to do this. Depending on the nature of the industry, an employee’s ability to compete can result in the loss of a large portion of clientele, ...
Many employers use a variety of types of arrangements for their workforce. One of the arrangements we see quite frequently is that of independent contractor. An independent contractor relationship has a variety of benefits both for the contractor and for the employer. One of the key benefits for the employer is the ability to limit ...
A common question I am often asked is whether an employer can terminate an employee for cause who just is not doing a good job. Terminating for cause rather than without cause carries with it the significant savings of not having to provide a severance package. Our courts have held that there are very limited ...
