No At-Will Employment in Canada

No At-Will Employment in CanadaAre you an employer with operations in both Canada & the US? This post is for you.

Contracts vs At-Will Employment

For our US readers, Canada does not have at-will employment. In Canada, employment relationships are governed by employment contracts, either written or implied, and various employment laws and regulations. Employers are generally required to provide reasonable notice or pay in lieu of notice when terminating an employee without cause.

For our Canadian readers, at-will employment is a term used in the United States to describe the employment relationship between an employer and an employee, where either party can terminate the employment at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice. This means that an employer can fire an employee for any reason or no reason at all, as long as it is not for an illegal reason (such as discrimination). Similarly, an employee can quit their job at any time without providing a reason or notice.

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Don’t Leave it to Luck: Update Employment Contracts Following Substantial Changes to the Job

Update Employment Contracts Following Substantial Changes to the JobWith St. Patrick’s Day having just passed, many of us start to bank on luck at this time of the year. While luck might get you to the end of the rainbow on some things, we wouldn’t recommend that you lean on luck when it comes to non-existent, outdated or incomplete employment contracts. 

The Consequences of Leaving it up to Luck

First, in case you’re new here or need a quick refresher, employment contracts are often recommended by lawyers and adopted by employers to bring a level of certainty to the employment relationship. Employment contracts can achieve a variety of things but generally, they set out the responsibilities and expectations of the employee and employer. If the employment relationship is bound by provincial employment standards legislation (it usually is), then the contract has to, at the very least, uphold the minimum standards of the applicable legislation. 

If your employment contract runs afoul of the applicable employment standards legislation by failing to uphold the minimum standards as required by the law, your contract could be deemed unenforceable. Contracts could also be found to be unenforceable if they fail to comply with the principles of contract law. 

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5 Common Contracting Mistakes Made by Employers

Common Contracting Mistakes Made by EmployersEnsuring that you have succinct, legally compliant, and up-to-date contracts in place is one of the most important things an employer can do to start off on the right foot with a new employee.  It also helps to avoid legal headaches down the road, should the employment relationship not work out.

Bosses and managers are busy and budgets can be tight, leading businesses to sometimes cut corners when it comes to contract templates. Below are 5 of the most common contracting mistakes employers make that can come back to bite them later.

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How Long Can an Employee Dispute Compensation Changes?

Constructive Dismissal Claims DeadlinesIn the recent Court of Appeal decision in Kosteckyj v. Paramount Resources Ltd. 2022 ABCA 230 (CanLII), the court considered the possibility that specific timelines could be imposed on employees for voicing dissatisfaction with unwelcome changes to the terms of their employment if they want to subsequently argue that they’ve been constructively dismissed.

What Typically Triggers a Constructive Dismissal Claim?

Constructive dismissal arguments often follow unilateral changes made to an employment agreement by the employer.  When an employee alleges a constructive dismissal after a change, they’re essentially saying that the change cuts so deeply to the core of the employment relationship that they’ve been forced to leave: “I’m quitting, but you made me! … and by the way, you have to now compensate me as if you’d fired me.”

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Unlimited Paid Time Off Policies – Proceed with Caution!

Unlimited Paid Time Off Policies - Proceed with Caution!We’ve been hearing about unlimited paid time off  (PTO) for some time, but it is not yet a common trend in Canada. However, from time to time in our employment law practice, we encounter employers who offer unlimited or unstructured time off to their employees.

At first glance,  unlimited PTO may sound wonderful and generous, and employers may offer it to foster a positive workplace culture and promote work-life balance. However,  without addressing potential issues via contracts and policies, offering unlimited and unstructured time off could cause more headaches than benefits for both the employers and the employees. 

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Non-Compete Clause Update

In a recent post, we talked about Ontario’s then-proposed and now law ban on non-compete agreements in employment contracts under Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, 2021 (“Bill 27”). The ban was effective as of October 25, 2021. Initially, there was some confusion about the enforceability of non-compete agreements or clauses entered into prior to the introduction of Bill 27. The Superior Court of Justice has recently released its decision for Parekh et al. v. Schecter et al., which clarifies that enforceable non-compete clauses entered into before October 25, 2021 will not be impacted by the ban and can be upheld. 

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