Category: Northern Exposure

Employment law articles for U.S. companies with employees in Canada. Written by the attorneys at Fasken Martineau law firm.

Challenging Times in Canada Present Opportunities for Creative Solutions

by Katie Clayton In this economic climate in Canada, many employers are being forced to find ways to reduce costs, which often means layoffs. But layoffs don’t have to be the only answer — you can reduce costs without losing valuable employees. One way businesses can do so is to slightly reduce their employees hours […]

Canadian Employer Can’t Fire Worker On Marijuana

by Sara Parchello While U.S. employers know that their human resources policies may need to be tweaked to comply with Canadian laws, many are surprised at how different Canada’s drug testing laws are. In the United States, drug use and impairment in the workplace are seen the same as any other criminal activity. In Canada, […]

What do recent changes in the Canadian Parliament mean for businesses?

by Brian Smeenk Much has been happening on the political front in Canada in the past two weeks. It has kept us spellbound, but all the politics has certainly not advanced the government’s economic agenda. On Monday, December 1, the three opposition parties in the federal Parliament announced that they had formed a coalition and […]

Canadian Employer Avoids Prior Severance Promises

by Karen Sargeant During these tough economic times, employers are often looking to increase flexibility. Several of our recent blog entries have discussed ways in which employers can do so – furloughs, work-sharing programs, changing employment contracts, and adjusting the size of the workforce. Recently, the British Columbia Court of Appeal granted Raytheon Canada some […]

Quebec closing may have ramifications in Saskatchewan – Wal-Mart revisited

by Karen Sargeant As many of you will know from earlier blog entries, Wal-Mart’s entry into Canada has been rife with union complaints. Beginning in the 1990s when employees at a Windsor, Ontario, store were automatically certified under relatively new certification provisions, employees and unions have filed numerous unfair labor practice complaints. The most recent […]

Canadian Employer Uses Arbitration to Recover Losses from Employee’s Theft

by Brian Smeenk TFI Transport (doing business as Canadian Freightways) had a bit of a theft problem in its Calgary terminal in 2005 and 2006. The company was losing television sets and generators. It conducted an investigation and was able to prove that one of its employees, Wayne Spence, had either stolen or was knowingly […]

List Identifies Canada’s Top 10 Employers

by Karen Sargeant Wondering if your company is a “best employer?” Canada’s Financial Post magazine recently identified Canada’s Top 10. The winners span the country. They include some of Canada’s best known companies, as well as some that are only well-known within their industry sector. The Financial Post contacted 16,000 private-sector employers to participate in […]

Facing Up to Facebook and Other Social Networking Web Sites in the Workplace

by Brian Smeenk What if one of your employees reports to you he is very upset about what a coworker (“John”) wrote in a social networking web site about their boss? The statements are false and injure the boss’ reputation. If seen widely, they would be hurtful to the boss’ family. You are shown the […]

Canada’s Supreme Court Awards RBC Dominion $1.5 Million from Branch Manager Who Defected to Merrill Lynch

by Brian Smeenk On October 9, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in RBC Dominion Securities v. Merrill Lynch Canada. The court restored an award of approximately $1.5 million in damages against a branch manager who had coordinated the defection of almost all his branch’s sales group from RBC to Merrill Lynch. […]