Ontario Employment and Labour Law Blog

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Paul Willetts Paul Willetts

Court Awards Punitive Damages for Employer Conduct in Terminating Employment

In a recent decision, Wilds v. 1959612 Ontario Inc., the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded punitive damages against an employer for its conduct at, and following, the time of termination. In so doing, the court provided a helpful reminder for employers to meet their lawful obligations when ending the employment relationship or risk exposure to additional liability.

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Paul Willetts Paul Willetts

A reminder for employers: Unconscious bias in the workplace investigation process

Workplace discrimination can take many forms and may include situations where an employee is the target of unintentional discriminatory behaviour informed by unconscious bias. Unconscious bias refers to social stereotypes about groups of people that individuals form outside of their own conscious awareness.

While workplace investigations can play an important role in addressing discrimination, they also have the inadvertent potential to further discriminatory conduct through unconscious bias. 

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Andrew Vey Andrew Vey

Give that back: recovery of employer property post-dismissal

When an employee termination is conducted, most employers focus on determining contractual severance entitlements and ensuring compliance with statutory requirements. In so doing, their aim is to limit any potential claims for wrongful dismissal. By contrast, less thought tends to be given to return of property. This is not an unreasonable state of affairs, as in most cases, return of property (whether it be employer-owned assets or employee personal effects) occurs with little fuss. But what happens when employers encounter intransigent former employees who refuse to return their property?

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Employment Contracts, Employment Litigation Kevin Patrick Robbins Employment Contracts, Employment Litigation Kevin Patrick Robbins

Fixed periods of employment are unaffected by unenforceable termination provisions

We often come across fixed-term contracts in our legal practice. Employers have varying reasons for wanting to use such agreements. Perhaps funding for an employee is tied to third party grants, or an employer wants to temporarily replace an existing worker during their period of maternity leave. Whatever the justification, we generally advise employers to think twice before using fixed-term contracts.

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COVID-19 & Employment, Wrongful Dismissal Kevin Patrick Robbins COVID-19 & Employment, Wrongful Dismissal Kevin Patrick Robbins

CERB Payments are not Deductible from Wrongful Dismissal Damages

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”) was a form of income replacement offered by the Government of Canada at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible recipients could receive $2,000.00 per month during the program’s 28-week duration (which ran from March to September 2020).

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Employment Contracts, Wrongful Dismissal Kevin Patrick Robbins Employment Contracts, Wrongful Dismissal Kevin Patrick Robbins

Understanding the Changed Substratum Doctrine - Is Your Old Employment Contract Still Enforceable?

Our firm is often retained by employees and employers to provide advice on dismissal entitlements. One of the first places we look in this regard is to the parties’ written employment contract (if one exists). Employers have an incentive to implement written contracts as a means of limiting future dismissal costs. For similar reasons, contracts often come under heavy scrutiny by employees (and their lawyers) whenever a job termination takes place.

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Discrimination, Employee Hiring, Employee Rights Kevin Patrick Robbins Discrimination, Employee Hiring, Employee Rights Kevin Patrick Robbins

ChatGPT and AI in the Workplace

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.

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Employment Contracts, Stock Awards Kevin Patrick Robbins Employment Contracts, Stock Awards Kevin Patrick Robbins

Equity Compensation, Vesting Limitations, and Effective Communication of Plan Terms

Equity compensation is one of the fastest growing categories of employee pay. More and more Canadian workers are seeing some form of employer-issued equity (via stock options, restricted share units, employee purchase plans, etc.) offered as part of incentive compensation packages. However, little attention tends to be given to the fine print that accompanies equity pay.

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