Sometimes, during the hiring process, an employer may opt to send an initial job offer and then, once accepted, follow up with a more detailed set of terms. This procedure, while seemingly innocuous, can prove to be high risk, carrying with it the potential for significant and unintended liability. An employer may find itself unable to rely on the ‘follow-up’ set of terms and be stuck with the deal set out in its initial job offer.

We are not yet at the halfway point of 2024. Despite this, both Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill have already been quite busy creating new rules that will apply to employers with operations in Ontario. In this article, we highlight a few of the major changes announced in the Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 and the

2024 Federal Budget and summarize how these may impact your organization.

Hiring processes can be competitive – particularly in a slow market where eligible candidates may outnumber available opportunities. While applicants may look to present their experience or qualifications in the most favourable light (whether on a CV or in the course of an interview), there is a significant difference between positive spin and blatant dishonesty.

When drafted carefully, written employment contracts can be helpful tools. They provide a clear view of the intended relationship and proactively address common issues that may arise. In so doing, contracts offer transparency and reduce the risk of future disputes.

ChatGPT (an artificial intelligence language generator financed by Microsoft) has captured the world’s attention. By inputting prompts in plain language, ChatGPT can do a seemingly endless series of tasks. Some are quite mundane – such as answering questions – while others could be revolutionary for automating common and labour-intensive work.

Ontario has, for a third time, extended the length of Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”). Pursuant to O. Reg. 412/21, IDEL now encompasses a maximum period of March 1, 2020 to September 25, 2021. The practical impact of this change is that employers are allowed to keep employees off work, without pay, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for an additional three months.

As of February 1, 2020, U-Haul no longer hires nicotine users in 21 of the US states in which it operates. The company, which employs over 30,000 people across the US and Canada, announced this new policy late last year.

As an employer in a competitive market, there may be a strong business case to actively recruit top-performing employees from other companies. While there can be clear advantages to attracting talented and qualified employees, an aggressive recruitment strategy targeting workers in otherwise stable employment can also lead to unintended liability.