Employment Law

Free legal workshop: Employment Standards Act – Amendments in 2018 and 2019 and what they mean for you

April 25th, 2019 by Iler Campbell

Free legal workshop | Employment Standards Act: Amendments in 2018 and 2019 and What They Mean for You

In 2018, the Ford Government passed Bill 47, the “Making Ontario Open for Businesses Act”. This bill reverses a number of changes made to employment standards legislation by the Liberal government, including the provision around annual increases to minimum wage. In addition to providing a summary of key amendments to the Employment Standards Act, we will also touch on Bill 66, the “Act to Restore Ontario’s Competitiveness”, which was passed on April 3, 2019 and makes further changes to employment legislation in Ontario.

Join Iler Campbell lawyer, Safia Lakhani, on May 15 at 9:30 am for this free workshop.

How to attend

You can attend this workshop as an interactive webinar or in person in our office.

If you can’t make it but would like a recording of the webinar, click register and select ‘I can’t attend the webinar but please send me a recording.’

Sign up here.

 

Bill 47 and Impacts to Employment Standards in Ontario

November 12th, 2018 by Brynn Leger

On October 23, 2018, the Ontario government announced changes to employment standards in the province in the form of Bill 47, dubbed the “Making Ontario Open for Business Act.” The proposed changes will largely undo the amendments made to employment and labour legislation last year with the Liberal government’s Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act.

Here, we will provide an overview of some of the major changes coming to employment standards in the province. Continue reading “Bill 47 and Impacts to Employment Standards in Ontario”

Striking a Balance: The Case of the Guide Dog and the Taxicab

October 3rd, 2018 by Brynn Leger

What do you do when human rights of one person compete with another’s? Employers, housing providers, and other public service providers have a duty to accommodate those with disabilities under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code). Sometimes, however, these obligations lead to conflict between multiple people in need of accommodation. An example of this that has been felt by housing providers and employers is the tension between persons with service animals and other persons with allergies. Some people in need of accommodation rely on service animals to assist them. But people suffering from allergies to dogs can’t be expected to live and work in an environment that does not accommodate their needs. How does an employer or a housing provider address these competing obligations to accommodate these persons in a fair manner that complies with the Code? Continue reading “Striking a Balance: The Case of the Guide Dog and the Taxicab”

Legalization of Cannabis: Important Considerations for Housing Providers & Employers

September 14th, 2018 by Safia Lakhani

With the impending legalization of cannabis, we have received requests from a number of housing providers to assist in developing policies that deal with the use and growth of cannabis in units. We have also received requests from employers around policies that prohibit the use of alcohol and drugs in the workplace. While policies should be crafted to suit a particular workplace or residence, below are a few considerations that employers and housing providers should bear in mind when creating rules around cannabis: Continue reading “Legalization of Cannabis: Important Considerations for Housing Providers & Employers”

Medical cannabis benefits denied: How statutory insurance plans can avoid paying workers’ compensation benefits

April 26th, 2018 by Michael Hackl

As we move toward the legalization of recreational cannabis, I thought it would be interesting to look at a recent case dealing with medical cannabis and the efforts of one person to get assistance from his province’s workers’ compensation board to contribute to the cost of the medical cannabis prescribed to him.

The case of Skinner v. Nova Scotia (Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal) provides insight into how the use of medical cannabis is sometimes still perceived as an unconventional treatment despite having been legal in Canada for almost two decades, and also how administrative law gives statutory insurance schemes ways to avoid providing benefits to individuals seeking coverage for medically prescribed treatment. Continue reading “Medical cannabis benefits denied: How statutory insurance plans can avoid paying workers’ compensation benefits”

Chronic work stress? Amendments will let more people qualify for workers’ compensation, but questions remain about how the changes will be applied

February 26th, 2018 by Michael Hackl

January 1, 2018 was a banner day for employee’s rights and protections in Ontario.

In addition to changes to the Employment Standards Act that came into force on January 1 (see our previous blog post here), a new entitlement for benefits under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (the WSIA) for “chronic or traumatic mental stress arising out of and in the course of the worker’s employment” also came into effect that day.

An entitlement under the WSIA simply means that a worker who meets those criteria is entitled to benefits under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) insurance plan. So, for example, the act states that a “worker who sustains a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his or her employment is entitled to benefits under the insurance plan.”

Previously, the WSIA provided that a worker suffering from mental stress was not entitled to benefits unless the stress was “an acute reaction to a sudden and unexpected traumatic event arising out of and in the course of his or her employment” – far too high a bar for many workers. As an example, prior to January 1, an employee might have been entitled to benefits if he or she experienced mental stress because they had been involved in or witnessed a horrific accident in the course of their employment, but not if they experienced mental stress due to an ongoing course of events, such as persistent harassment. Under the new entitlement the later scenario may be covered; the WSIA may provide benefits for mental stress resulting from an ongoing course of events.

Continue reading “Chronic work stress? Amendments will let more people qualify for workers’ compensation, but questions remain about how the changes will be applied”