Procedural Timelines and Limitation Periods are Back!

If you are involved in litigation in Ontario, you are likely aware that Ontario suspended its limitation periods and procedural deadlines on March 16, 2020. The suspension order was made under O. Reg. 73/20.

As of Monday, September 14, 2020, the suspension order will be lifted and all limitation periods and other procedural time periods will resume. This change is made in accordance with Ontario’s gradual reopening, under O. Reg. 457/20 made under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020.

How does this affect your matter?

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ONCE AGAIN Attention Employers with Employees on the IDEL! Deemed IDEL Now Extended to January 2, 2021!

On July 30, 2020, we sent out a note to our clients and readers alerting you all that because the state of emergency in Ontario ended on July 24, 2020, the deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leaves (“IDEL”) would be ending on September 4, 2020. On September 3, 2020, the Ontario government made another change. The deemed IDEL has now been extended until January 2, 2021. You can check out the Ontario government’s news release and get further details in the Ministry of Labour’s Guide.

So, the clock has been reset once again.

Does This Apply to Me?

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A Guide for Employers During COVID-19 – August 27, 2020 update

A Guide for Employers during COVID-19 This Guide sets out the key employment law issues to consider, as well as the government's financial relief options to explore to get through this deep economic crisis.  (Last Updated August 27, 2020). Further free resources can be found here. Should you need legal advice on how to manage your workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, please get in touch.

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Workplace Law: It Pays To Be Proactive

workplace law advice for employers

Photo by CQF-Avocat from Pexels

In these challenging times, in the midst of the pandemic, as workplaces re-open, pivot and change, we see the importance and immense value of having strategic employment and workplace law advice. Just a small allocation of thought space and time to being proactive could have changed the outcome of so many situations. We see it now in our firm in many ways. 

Having run a small business for over a decade, I can appreciate that employers are often triaging the urgent demand of finding solutions to client’s needs. Rarely did I have the time or opportunity to “smell the roses” let alone try to proactively anticipate the workplace law needs of my growing organization. However, I now see the critical importance of taking a proactive approach.

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School Re-Opening and Issues for Employers

In some form or another, it’s looking like in-person learning will be going ahead this school year but that parents can keep their children home if they wish. In many cases, employers whose operations have been remote for the past several months are looking to bring employees back to the office. What if an employee doesn’t want to send their child back to school and subsequently insists that they cannot, therefore, come back into the office to work? What are an employer’s options?

Ask Why

If an employee will not be sending their child to school and insists that they too need to remain at home, ask why. While all things COVID-19 present novel legal situations, and we don’t yet have any certainty on how courts and tribunals will rule, it’s reasonable to assume that if your employee has a legitimate disability-related COVID-19 exposure concern this should be accommodated. Asking your employee why they are not sending their child to school allows them to raise their need for accommodation. 

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Non-Solicit Provisions in Employment Contracts – What You Need to Know

Many restrictive convenants in agreements unenforceable

Image by Edar from Pixabay

We get a lot of questions from employers and employees about restrictive covenants. Many employment contracts include a restrictive covenant – a contractual clause that seeks to limit an employee’s ability to solicit the employer’s clients and/or employees and/or to compete for those same clients in the same geographical area once the employee leaves the employer.

Courts generally find restrictive covenants in employment agreements unenforceable, unless they are reasonable between the parties and not adverse to the public interest. Typically, if a restrictive covenant is ambiguous with regards to time, activity or geography, it will not be enforceable. Let’s take a look at non-solicit agreements.

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