Showing posts with label ESA s. 96. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ESA s. 96. Show all posts

Saturday 5 January 2019

The ONCA's Decision in the Uber Case and the (Il)legality of Arbitration Clauses in Employment Contracts

Will an arbitration clause in independent contractor agreement always be found to be illegal, if, notwithstanding that to which the parties ostensibly agreed, the worker can later allege that he is, in fact, an “employee”?

A cursory reading of the Court of Appeal for Ontario’s decision in Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc., 2019 ONCA 1 might lead those who do not practice in the area of employment law to conclude that the answer is “yes.”

I might not be so sure.

Wednesday 2 January 2019

ONCA says Uber's Arbitration Clause is both Illegal and Unconscionable

Can a company, which ostensibly deems all of its workers to be “independent contractors”, require those workers to arbitrate their issues, including the issue of whether or not they are, in fact, “employees”? Or, is such an agreement an attempt to contract out of the protections afforded to employees by virtue of the Employment Standards Act, 2000? In addition to, or in the alternative to, such a question, is such a clause “unconscionable”?

In the fist decision issued by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 2019, Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc., 2019 ONCA 1, Ontario’s top court found that: (a) Uber’s arbitration clause amounts to an illegal contracting out of an employment standard; and (b) such clause is also unconscionable at common law.

Why does one think this ride isn’t over yet?