Bill 148
has brought significant amendments to the Ontario Employment Standards Act, including changes to vacation entitlements. Over the past couple of months, SpringLaw presented a series of Bill 148 webinars to our clients. We designed this series to help our employer clients get acquainted with all the changes introduced by the Bill 148 amendments.
By now everyone should know that sexual harassment is not permissible in the workplace, but even amidst the flurry of allegations we have seen in the #metoo era, exactly what constitutes sexual harassment might still be a little fuzzy. With love in the air today, workers across the land might be wondering, can I ask my co-worker to be my Valentine? In today’s post we will take a closer look at the law around sexual harassment and try to answer that burning question.
The Ontario Human Rights Code defines harassment in section 10 as “engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.”
Wal-Mart Canada has been hit with the largest award for moral damages in a Canadian employment case ever. In December, the Ontario Superior Court awarded punitive and moral damages of $750,000 to former Wal-Mart Canada employee Gail Galea. Read the full decision here (nearly 100 pages).
Ms. Galea was a senior management employee, hired by Wal-Mart in 2002. She quickly climbed the ranks, eventually earning nearly $500,000 in annual total compensation and the position of Vice-President, General Merchandise.
Amongst the many changes to the Employment Standards Act introduced by Bill 148 is the expansion of Personal Emergency Leave. Previously only available to employees in workplaces with 50 or more employees, this 10 day leave is now available to everyone. The first two days of leave are paid. Effectively this amounts to two days of paid sick, caregiver or bereavement leave per year for all employees. Entitlement to Personal Emergency Leave Personal emergency leave…
Stories about artificial intelligence (AI) stealing our jobs and robots going rogue have been in our collective consciousness for years. Elon Musk has also sounded the alarm bells, calling AI the “biggest risk we face as a civilization”. While he may know a few things I don’t, I can’t say that I agree. Always one to embrace technology, I think AI has great potential to be used by businesses in the HR space, such as…
At SpringLaw we get a lot of questions from both employers and employees about the intersection of the criminal law and the employment relationship. Unfortunately it’s easier, and likely more common, than you might think to get somehow mixed up in a police database or wind up with a criminal record. Many employers will require some sort of criminal record check as a condition of hiring, or will have policies with respect to their current…
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In the rapidly evolving landscape of tech, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is becoming a central player, especially in sectors like customer service, content creation, and…
In the world of employment law, terminations tend to steal the spotlight. But what about when the employee is the one ending the employment relationship?…
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