An Important Ruling for Employers on Constructive Dismissal and the IDEL

At long last, the impact of Ontario’s Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL) on employee constructive dismissal claims has been litigated. Employment lawyers have been speculating for a long while about how courts will treat the various employment pivots employers were required to make during the pandemic. We now have our first answer. 

Last week, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its decision in Coutinho v. Ocular Health Centre Ltd. and ruled that the IDEL does not take away an employee’s ability to sue for constructive dismissal. 

What’s Constructive Dismissal?

A constructive dismissal occurs when an employer unilaterally and substantially changes an express or implied term of the employee’s contract. The term also needs to have been essential. Changes regarding pay, duties, hours of work etc., can all potentially be constructive dismissals. 

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The 444 Employment Law Toolkit

The 444: employment law tooklit for small employersSpringLaw is 4!!!!  To celebrate our 4-year anniversary, thank our clients and welcome non-client businesses who are looking for a new way to receive legal services, we are pleased to offer The 444 Toolkit.

The 444 Toolkit is a collection of our most highly sought-after resources our clients ask for every day:

  • 4 core legal templates
  • 4 of our most popular workplace law guides
  • 4 helpful checklists

If you are a small business owner, looking to update your core legal docs and needing some guidance to navigate this ongoing rollercoaster of the pandemic, this workplace law toolkit is for you!

THIS IS A DEEPLY DISCOUNTED, TIME-LIMITED OFFER!

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Vaccinating the Workforce

With the vaccine becoming more widely available, questions about vaccine passports, time off to get the vaccine and whether employers can require employees to get the vaccine are becoming more relevant. 

Paid Vaccination Leave in Saskatchewan

Last week a new paid vaccine leave became law in Saskatchewan. This leave, which was made under Saskatchewan’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2020, allows workers to take PAID time off to get their vaccines. Saskatchewan is the first jurisdiction in Canada to implement this type of leave. 

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Termination Payments and Repaying Government Benefits – EI, CERB and CRB

Terminated employees receiving government benefitsOver the course of the past year, many people have had reductions in earnings and received some form of government income assistance – EI, CERB or Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB).

In some cases, employees who initially thought that their interruption or reduction in earnings was temporary have had their employment terminated. 

In almost all termination situations an employee will be entitled to some form of termination payment from the employer. Employees who are also receiving government income assistance may wonder how their government payments will be impacted by their termination packages. 

While not everything is crystal clear at this point, we have some thoughts!

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