In September 2015, in Buaron v Acuity Ads Inc, 2015 ONSC 5774, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that if an employer and employee come to an initial agreement (in this case, the “Offer Letter”) that has all the elements of a contract, a subsequent agreement (in this case, a formal employment contract)
Two recent decisions of the UK Supreme Court have considered the doctrine of vicarious liability and effectively extended it to a wider range of circumstances.
In the UK an employer can be held liable for the tortious acts committed by an employee in the course of their employment. Courts will consider whether there is a
When can a collective agreement deviate from the law? In a recent Ontario arbitration decision, the issue arose of whether a work schedule in agreed to in collective bargaining failed to comply with the Hours of Work provisions in the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”).
Section 18 of the ESA requires employees to have
This article was written by Mlungisi Khambule, an Associate Designate at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa
Arbitration awards in favour of employees granting a “sum of money” are bearing more resemblance to monetary debts. They are no longer just decisions obtained by disgruntled employees which can be ignored and left to lie dead in the
Last year we reported on a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales which upheld the summary dismissal of an employee for serious misconduct, even though the employer had not established, as a matter of fact, that the misconduct had occurred.
The case marked a departure from a number of earlier authorities which had referred to the need for misconduct to be clearly established, in light of the grave social and economic consequences of summary dismissal for employees.
The New South Wales Court of Appeal has now overturned the decision.
When is an employee discriminated against because of odours in the workplace? In the recent decision of Gillis and Nova Scotia (Public Service Commission), Re, (http://canlii.ca/t/gncqd), the Nova Scotia Labour Board considered this issue. An employee advised management that scents worn by co-workers caused him dizziness, nausea, migraines, loss of appetite, insomnia,
Since Bhasin v Hrynew, 2014 SCC 71, courts have been applying the “organizing principle” of good faith in all contractual relationships thereby delinating its scope in different cirucmstances. One recent decision applying this principle addressess the circumstances where an employer excercises a discretionary contractual right to effectively deny an employee his compensation under a
Pregnant employees benefit from specific and extensive guarantees against termination of their employment under French law. In particular, employers are not allowed to dismiss an employee from the moment she is medically certified as being pregnant, excepted in two limited cases: where the employee has committed an act of gross misconduct or if it is
The matter of racial discrimination is a regular source of concern in France, and the issue of protection against such discrimination is as important as ever.
In this respect, employee protection is principally ensured through the general principle of non-discrimination in the workplace, which prohibits any employer from treating an employee differently on the basis
This article was written by Rachel Mazower, a Candidate Attorney at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa
The jurisdiction of The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) is not geographically limited if an employment relationship that takes place outside South African borders forms part of a business undertaking based inside the country. In