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 Effective Thursday, April 8, 2021, the Ontario government issued a province-wide Stay-at-Home order. This is the third state of emergency under the Emergency and Civil Protection Act. The government’s Stay-at-Home order requires everyone to stay at home except for permitted purposes such as going grocery shopping, visiting the doctor, exercising, or attending to specific important and …

Answers to Top 5 Employment Questions Regarding Ontario’s Stay-at-Home Order Read More »

Generally, employers are not permitted to interfere with the off duty conduct of an employee or impose any form of discipline for off-duty conduct, with limited exceptions. Case law has found that one of these narrow exceptions is employers requiring random drug testing of employees in professions that are dangerous and pose serious health and …

Drug and Alcohol Testing In The Workplace Read More »

The resignation in January 2021 of the Governor General of Canada has brought workplace harassment and toxic work environments into the center of public conversation. Employees can often feel powerless in the face of workplace harassment, particularly if the comments or actions are coming from a superior. Read on to learn what the legal options …

What To Do If You Are Experiencing Workplace Harassment Read More »

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to lay off or terminate huge portions of their workforce to stay afloat, and there have been record levels of unemployment. This has made the job market competitive and employees may find it more difficult to find a new job after being let go.  Recent Court decisions suggest …

Impact Of COVID-19 On Reasonable Notice in Ontario Read More »

Termination clauses in employment contracts are an employer’s best defense against owing significant notice to employees upon termination. The recent Ontario Superior Court decision of Ojo v. Crystal Claire Cosmetics Inc, 2021 ONSC 1428, represents yet another crack in this ever-weakening armor. In Ojo the termination clause was found to be unenforceable, entitling the employee …

Monkhouse Law Successful in Arguing Termination Clause Unenforceable Read More »

Like nearly every aspect of life, the way litigation is conducted has been drastically altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. As recent case law and practice directions have indicated, the court is not willing to accept there should be indefinite delays in order to conduct steps in the litigation in a pre-COVID manner. For example, while …

Tips For Successful Virtual Discoveries Read More »

Where an employee has a disability, which interferes with the performance of a job requirement, human rights legislation requires employers to accommodate the employee to the point of undue hardship. Accommodation refers to changing the workplace or the employee’s working conditions in a way that ensures the employee is not unfairly excluded or disciplined based …

Disability Related Absenteeism – Your Employer Has a Duty To Accommodate You Read More »

If you have just been terminated and offered severance pay, you may feel pressured to sign a severance package under stress within an unreasonably short time frame. Your entitlements will not be voided if you do not sign a severance package right away. Short deadlines may be a tactic used by employers to get employees …

Severance Package: Beware of Employer Pressure & Time Limit for Signing Read More »

Workers are often offered compensation in their employment package which is separate from wages and benefits. This can include long-term incentive plans (LTIP), stock options, restricted share units, bonuses and other non-traditional compensation structures. They are appealing because they can be a sizable addition to salary and have potential to grow over time. The catch, …

Supreme Court Is Clear: Reasonable Notice Much More Than Lost Wage Read More »

Employers are prohibited from penalizing or threatening to penalize employees in any way for asserting or asking about their rights under employment legislation. An example of reprisal is when an employee complains to the Ministry of Labour that their employer is not paying overtime, and, in response, the employee is reassigned to a different position. The …

Reprisal or Wrongful Dismissal? Read More »