Why is my daycare closed if I have to go to work? Perhaps nowhere else in Ontario is the effect federalism felt more acutely than in Ottawa. According to statistics from the City of Ottawa, a full 18.2% of the city’s GDP is derived from the federal public service; second only to high tech.
Practically speaking, what this means is that on the third Monday of every February, federal public servants are expected to be at work while their daycares shutter their doors. So what gives?
Does workplace harassment simply “arise from and in the course of” an employee’s employment, or does it actually “relate to” that employment?
That question, as incredibly pedantic as it may appear, was of material consequence to a decision of the Ontario Grievance Settlement Board issued January 23, 2018: OPSEU and Ontario (Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services) (Rosati), Re, 2018 CarswellOnt 1017.
In short, the answer to that question drove the analysis as to whether a claim for workplace harassment was compensable pursuant to the newly revised provisions of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.
In the 1997 movie “Wag the Dog” the spin doctors hired to get the President re-elected release an ad campaign with the slogan “Never change horses in mid-stream.” That idiom serves as a powerful and important reminder for employers that might seek to change the terms of an employee’s employment during a period of so-called “working notice.”
In a short decision released by the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Nufrio v. Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, 2017 ONCA 948 (CanLII), Ontario’s top court reinforced this principle.
Can an employer force an employee to wear a shoe with an elevated heel – aka “high heels” – if wearing such shoes is not required for the worker to perform his or her work safely?
As of November 27, 2017, and as a result of the implementation of the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017, S.O. 2017 C.22, formerly Bill 148, the answer to that question is “no” - unless you work in the “entertainment and advertising industry”.
Silence is golden. According to that proverbial saying it is sometimes better to say nothing than to speak.
So what does this ancient saying, and 1964 The Four Seasons’ B-side, have to do with employment law? In short, in Nemeth v. Hatch Ltd., 2018 ONCA 7 (CanLII), the the Court of Appeal for Ontario essentially said as much when it comes to termination clauses.
