Saturday 8 July 2023

Termination for Failure to Respect Workplace Rules Regarding Decorum When Expressing Health and Safety Concerns NOT Reprisal says Labour Relations Board

Sometimes it is not so much what you say, but rather how you say it that matters.

In Derya Marquardt v Rasmussen Starr Ruddy LLP, 2022 CanLII 9123 (ON LRB), the Ontario Labour Relations Board held that an employer’s decision to deem the employment relationship at an end was prompted by the manner in which the employee communicated her concerns and her insubordination, and not by the fact that she was seeking compliance with or exercising rights under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Thursday 6 July 2023

Mandatory Fun? Can your employer force you to take your vacation time in July?

Can your employer force you to take your vacation time in July?

A guest post by Blake Bochinski

For many employees, vacation time is essential for maintaining a work-life balance to relax and spend time with their loved ones. As such, employees typically do not need to be forced into taking a vacation. However, there may be circumstances where an employer wants to mandate when employees take their vacation.

Friday 23 June 2023

How to Efficiently Get Your Wrongful Dismissal Case Through the Ontario Superior Court of Justice

On July 6, 2022, the applicant commenced employment with her employer pursuant to the terms of a one-year fixed-term contract agreement. Sometime before the end of that one-year term, the employer terminated the contract.

On March 27, 2023, the employee caused the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sitting at Hamilton to issue an Application against the employer for damages equal to the balance of the contract.

The employee’s application was heard less than three months later and on June 21, before the contract was even set to expire, she had her decision.

For those critical of the pace at which some litigation can move, the claim stands as proof that with proper advocacy things can get done.

Sunday 23 April 2023

Court of Appeal Clarifies Test for Condonation of Layoff

If an employee does not immediately object to being laid off, or “furloughed,” does that mean that the employee has agreed to or condoned such action?

In Pham v. Qualified Metal Fabricators Ltd., 2023 ONCA 255 (CanLII), the Court of Appeal for Ontario held that an employer cannot infer consent to a layoff from mere silence.

Saturday 22 April 2023

Report of Workplace Harassment Investigator Shielded by Qualified Privilege

Is the report of an investigator hired to investigate allegations of workplace harassment shielded by the doctrine of qualified privilege?

In Safavi-Naini v. Rubin Thomlinson LLP, 2023 ONCA 86 (CanLII), the Court of Appeal for Ontario confirmed that it is.