Important things to keep in mind when investigating a harassment complaint The Ontario Human Rights Code (“Code”) states that employees have the right to be free from abusive or annoying behaviour stemming from one or more grounds in the Code. Section 5(2) of the Code states the following: Every person who is an employee has […]

Speaking at a Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce event earlier this month, Ontario’s Labour Minister Kevin Flynn stated that a final report outlining recommendations as part of Ontario’s Changing Workplaces Review (the “Review”) will be released sometime in the spring of 2017. The Review is the first independent review commissioned by the Ontario government in

Typically, an employment relationship ends in one of two ways, either by termination or resignation. There is, however, a third, less intuitive way that employment may end: frustration of contract. This most often happens when the employee is too sick to keep working. Many employees choose to retire and/or quit when they are no longer

The Ontario Human Rights Commission has released a policy in relation to the limits placed on employers when requesting medical documentation to substantiate an employee’s request for accommodation at work in relation to a disability. The Commission has stated that employers should not ask for broad sweeping medical information relating to the employee, for example,

An employee may be entitled to a larger award for wrongful dismissal damages if the employee was induced and then subsequently dismissed. Inducement occurs when an employee is enticed from their current position either through aggressive recruiting or inflated promises. In order to meet the level of “aggressive recruiting” there must be significant pursuit, such

Unjust Dismissal Complaints and Discontinuance of a Function Under the Canada Labour Code, R.S.C. 1985 c. L-2, a federally regulated employee may challenge their dismissal by filing an unjust dismissal complaint. One defence to an unjust dismissal complaint is the discontinuance of a function. This is a preliminary objection made to an adjudicator by the

What is Long Term Disability? If you are injured or become sick to the point where you are unable to return to work, long term disability insurance provides you with some protection by providing you with a portion of your income over the period for which you are considered totally disabled and unable to work.

Life is complicated. Individuals face many challenges in their daily lives and must effectively maintain a work-life balance. There are many approaches employers take to help their employees achieve this, the most common is providing employees with health care benefits, including medical, dental and Short/Long Term Disability Coverage. Employees are typically comfortable using their “normal”

Plaintiff is not entitled to damages for early termination of fixed-term contract because of her refusal to do a background check. Covenoho v. Pendylum Inc., 2016 ONSC 4969 In this case, the Plaintiff was hired by the Defendant under a fixed-term agreement for one year. The Defendant is a provider of workforce management systems in

Long term disability, should I ask for reconsideration? (no, just hire a lawyer) The experience of applying for long-term disability (LTD) benefits can be exhausting and confusing to many applicants. Once sending out denial letters, insurers typically impose a 90-day deadline to “appeal” the decision and limit the applicants to three opportunities to appeal. Applicants