Attention Employers with Employees on the IDEL!

The state of emergency in Ontario ended on July 24, 2020. This means a new clock has started ticking for employers with employees on what were temporary layoffs but were then converted into deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leaves (IDEL) by O. Reg 228/20. While this sounds confusing, basically if your employees are off work involuntarily (you told them to stop working vs. they asked to take a leave) then they have been on a deemed…

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Family Status Accommodation in the Time of COVID-19

Employer obligations to accommodate work refusals under the IDEL

Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels

As workplaces re-open, employers are getting all kinds of objections from employees about coming back to work. Common among these are childcare responsibilities. While some daycares and day camps are operating, things are far from normal. What obligation do employers have to accommodate refusals to come back to work due to childcare responsibilities? 

Employee Protection Under the Infectious Disease Emergency Leave

In Ontario, employees who claim they cannot work due to childcare responsibilities may have job protection under the Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL). The IDEL provides job protection to employees who need to take a leave from work to care for their children whose school or daycare is closed because of COVID-19. The Ministry of Labour Guide on this leave also includes day camps being cancelled as a reason for the leave so we can be sure that the protection is meant to be expansive. 

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The CEWS, the CERB and Returning to Work

As we look towards returning to work and re-opening businesses we thought we would re-visit the CEWS and CERB, both of which have recently been extended. 

The CEWS (Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy) continues to provide employers with a wage subsidy to bring employees back. The CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefit) may be working against employers in some instances, where employees do not want to come back or serve to make more money by not working and staying on the CERB. 

Extension of the CEWS

The government has doubled the length of the CEWS program to now extend until August 29, 2020. Eligibility for the CEWS is broken down into periods, where an employer needs to demonstrate a specific revenue reduction for that period. Periods 5 (July 5 – August 1) and 6 (August 2 to August 29) are expected to require a 30% reduction in revenue, however, details have not yet been announced.

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A Guide for Employers During COVID-19 – June 19 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 June 19, 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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A Guide for Employers During COVID-19 – June 3 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 June 3, 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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Big Changes for COVID-19 Layoffs in Ontario: New O. Reg 228/20 Infectious Disease Emergency Leave Curtails Constructive Dismissal Claims

new Infectious Disease Emergency Leave regulationAs many of our readers and clients know, we have been cautioning that the legality of certain layoffs and job changes necessitated by COVID-19 is uncertain. Generally, layoffs are only legal if the employment contract gives the employer the right to layoff, and many other job changes, such as reductions in hours or pay, raise the risk of constructive dismissal. We anticipated that at some point the Ontario government may weigh in and change the law – on Friday they did.  

Note that none of these changes apply to unionized employees. 

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