Tag: Canada

Employer permitted to post employee photos in workplace

by Alexis Charpentier The right to privacy is constantly evolving. And that has implications in the workplace. Just how far employees’ privacy rights extend is constantly at issue. Recently an arbitrator in Quebec had to decide whether employees’ privacy rights extended so far that they could object to their employer’s decision to post their photos, […]

BC Court of Appeal takes a narrow view of the SCC’s New Labour Trilogy

By Christopher Pigott In a previous article, we reported on the Supreme Court of Canada’s “New Labour Trilogy,” a set of three landmark constitutional law decisions released in January 2015 that raised questions about basic aspects of Canada’s labor relations system. Unsurprisingly, the decisions sparked a huge debate in the Canadian labor law community as […]

Changes to the residency requirement for grants of citizenship now in force

by Thora A. Sigurdson On June 11, the sections of the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act dealing with the residence requirements for citizenship came into effect. These sections apply to individuals who have obtained permanent resident status in Canada and want to apply for Canadian citizenship. In general terms, it will take longer and require a […]

Single mom wins rotating shift job—then wants days only—and court agrees

by Christian Paquette Did an employer discriminate against a single mother when it required her to work the regular shift rotation job she’d applied for? An Alberta court was recently asked to rule whether an arbitrator was right in deciding against the employer. The court in SMS Equipment Inc. v. CEP, Local 707 agreed that […]

Not all relapses are created equal

by Stephanie Gutierrez An addiction to drugs and/or alcohol is considered a disability in Canada. As such, employers in Canada often enter into last chance agreements with employees suffering from a drug or alcohol addiction. But does a last chance agreement always mean it’s the employee’s “last chance”? Not necessarily.

Not all changes equal constructive dismissal

by Mathias Link Employers throughout Canada find it challenging to anticipate exactly when a particular unilateral change to the terms and conditions of employment will be a breach of the employment contract, and thus a constructive dismissal, or whether the change will be reasonable such that an employee is obligated to accept the change or […]

Employment contracts, termination clauses, and itchy trigger fingers

by Bruce R. Grist As there is no employment at will in Canada, most employment lawyers in Canada who act for employers recommend that employers use employment contracts to govern the employee’s relationship with the employer. If there is an employment contract and the employer wishes to terminate the employee’s employment or the employee wishes […]

Occupational health and safety due diligence defense alive and well

by Rosalind H. Cooper A recent case involving charges against a company under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act has confirmed that the defense of due diligence is alive and well. The defense of due diligence—which may allow employers to avoid a conviction under occupational health and safety legislation—can be difficult to establish. Even […]