The Ontario Divisional Court recently dismissed the employer’s appeal in Lamontagne v JL Richards & Associates Limited (Lamontagne)[1], adding an appellate lens to the body of case law addressing the enforceability of “for cause” termination provisions in employment contracts.[2] In Lamontagne, the employer terminated the applicant’s employment without cause after 6.25 years. The applicable employment … Continue reading
New legislation in Ontario introduces a first-in-Canada requirement for employers to prepare “disconnect from work” policies for their employees. It also creates a novel prohibition on non-competition provisions in employment agreements. On December 2, 2021 Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, 2021, (“Bill 27”) received royal assent, passing into law several amendments to employment-related legislation … Continue reading
In Hawkes v. Max Aicher (North America) Limited, the Ontario Divisional Court held that the calculation of an employer’s payroll for the purposes of determining its severance pay obligations under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) must include its payroll outside of Ontario and Canada. Background The employee was employed by Max Aicher (North … Continue reading
Vacation may not be top of mind for employees in Ontario right now: March Break is postponed, public health officials continue to advise against non-essential travel, and the Government of Canada imposed greater international travel restrictions. But even though employees may want to save their time off for warmer weather and, hopefully, an improved public … Continue reading
This post was contributed by Regina Martyn, Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP (Toronto) Employers should be aware of the possibility of new statutory job-protected leaves of absence in Ontario. Bill 21, known as the “Employment Standards Amendment Act” (Leaves to Help Families), is in the Second Reading and proposes 3 new unpaid leaves for … Continue reading