At common law, a non-unionized employee can be dismissed without reasons if he or she is given reasonable notice or pay in lieu. Today, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that this common law rule does not apply to federally regulated employers. The Court ruled that federally regulated employers must always provide
The recent decision of the Fair Work Commission in Kirkman v DP World Melbourne Limited[1] illustrates the benefits to employers of taking care when commissioning investigations into alleged misconduct in the workplace. If the commissioning of the report is handled correctly, and confidentiality of the report is maintained at all times, it may be possible to withhold production of the report in subsequent proceedings brought by employees, on the basis of a claim for legal professional privilege (LPP).
A recent decision of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) means that labour hire employees working on projects may find it more difficult to avail themselves of the unfair dismissal protections in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Fair Work Act).
In this case, the labour hire employee’s contract of employment made specific reference to the employee undertaking work for a host company on a particular project. The employee had worked on this project for 7 years, when he was involved in a ‘near miss’ safety incident. As a result of this incident the host company advised the employer that it was exercising a right under its contract with the employer to remove the labour hire employee from the project site. After unsuccessfully attempting to find an alternative position for the labour hire employee, the employer terminated the employee’s employment.
What happens when an employer terminates an employee on a fixed-term contract? The Ontario Court of Appeal in Howard v Benson Group Inc. recently weighed in on the issue. The Court held that the employee was entitled to an amount equal to his salary and benefits for the unexpired term of the employment contract
In an unprecedented decision from last May (and worth discussing again), the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (the Tribunal) awarded a migrant worker $150,000 in compensation for injury to her dignity, feelings, and self-respect under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code) as a result of sexual harassment and reprisal at the hands of
While courts have often held there may be just cause for termination based on certain off duty conduct, a recent case has gone the other way. Recently, in Merritt v. Tigercat Industries, 2016 ONSC 1214 (CanLII), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice reinforced the notion that an employer cannot rely on the mere existence
At common law, a contract can only be amended in accordance with its terms or with the agreement of all the parties. An employment contract is no different – an employer can only change its terms if the contract allows or if the employee agrees to the changes.
It is likely that certain terms will
The Fair Work Commission has found that a 50 year old airline services operator for Qantas who breached his employer’s safety rules 3 times in 20 days was not unfairly dismissed and that his breaches were considered all the more serious, given that he had 14 years’ experience in his role.
One of the key distinguishing feature between an independent and dependent contractor, particularly for employers, is that dependent contractors are owed reasonable notice upon dismissal. As reported by the Toronto Star, the distinction between the classifications is very important.
The question at issue in a recent case before the Ontario Court of Appeal (reported
This article was written by Jonathan Jones, a directors at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa
The Labour Appeal Court has confirmed that even if an employee has consented after an enquiry to a demotion as an alternative to dismissal, the demotion may still be unfair.
A perception exists that when an employer and employee have