Employers who include discretionary bonuses as part of their employees’ compensation packages should be aware of the Ontario Court of Appeal’s latest guidance on (i) bonus entitlement for the period up to dismissal and (ii) compensation for the loss of a bonus during the reasonable notice period. This guidance came in the Court’s decision, issued last week, in Singer v. Nordstrong Equipment Limited, 2018 ONCA 364. Our analysis of the lower court’s decision in this case can be found here.  Continue Reading Is Your Dismissed Employee Entitled to a Bonus?

A recent decision from the Ontario Superior Court demonstrates the overlap between civil and criminal findings, and how an employer can use a criminal verdict to recover additional damages in a civil claim. In Atlas Copco Canada Inc. v. David Hillier 2018 ONSC 1558, rendered March 7, 2018, an employer “piggybacked” off of a criminal court decision to recover an additional $20 million from an ex-senior employee who accepted payments and benefits in return for allowing a fraud to continue.

This decision highlights an employer’s possible options for fraud recovery, as well as the steep costs for employees of participating in fraudulent schemes. Continue Reading

Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, recently hosted its Solving Workplace Challenges 2018 conference and followed up with a full page article featuring insights from Chris Burkett’s panel discussion on pressing topics in employment law. See the excerpt below or access the complete article here. Continue Reading Cannabis@Work – The Globe and Mail features Baker McKenzie Partner, Chris Burkett

On April 1, 2018, employers in Ontario will be subject to the new equal pay provisions under the Employment Standards Act  (“ESA”) brought in by Bill 148. As a general rule, employers can no longer establish distinct pay rates based on a “difference in employment status”, defined as follows: Continue Reading Compliance Check: Do Your Pay Rates Comply with Bill 148?

This is the final article in our three-part series on recent changes to Alberta’s labour and employment legislation. Here we outline changes to Alberta’s occupational health and safety (“OHS”) and workers’ compensation legislation resulting from Bill 30: An Act to Protect the Health and Well-being of Working Albertans. Continue Reading Alberta Strengthens Workplace Safety Legislation

Last week, the Ontario government announced its intention to introduce pay transparency legislation – see our article on the announcement here.  Bill 203, the Pay Transparency Act, 2018 has now been introduced. The newly proposed legislation is consistent with the Ontario government’s press release. In particular, it proposes to impose the following requirements on employers:

  • a salary rate or range must be stated in all publicly advertised job postings;
  • job candidates may not be asked about their past compensation;
  • no reprisals may be made against employees who discuss or disclose compensation; and
  • certain employers must track and report compensation gaps based on gender and/or other diversity characteristics (in “pay transparency reports”).

Bill 203 also sets out in greater detail the proposed pay transparency requirements. In particular: Continue Reading Ontario Unveils Pay Transparency Legislation

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Baker McKenzie is partnering with The Globe and Mail for the Solving Workplace Challenges 2018 conference, a dynamic, half-day learning event. Three panels of experts will provide recommendations and practical strategies for some of the most pressing issues facing employers today, including mental health, marijuana in the workplace and building employee resiliency.

Chris Burkett will be speaking on a panel on workplace policies moderated by Sean Stanleigh (Globe and Mail), Daniel Lublin (Whitten Lublin), Jessica Antoine (Purolator) and others.

The conference is on March 20, 2018 at The Globe and Mail’s new headquarters at 351 King St. East in Toronto. For more details and to register, follow this link.

The government of Ontario announced today that it will introduce new legislation to require certain employers to track and publish their compensation information. The proposed legislation is part of the province’s initiative to advance women’s economic status and create more equitable workplaces (the initiative is titled “Then Now Next: Ontario’s Strategy for Women’s Economic Empowerment”). Today’s announcement comes on the heels of last week’s budget plan in which the federal government outlined proposed proactive pay equity legislation that would apply to federally regulated employers – see here for our article on the proposed federal legislation. Continue Reading Ontario Introducing New Pay Transparency Legislation

This is the second article in our three-part series highlighting recent changes to Alberta’s labour and employment legislation.  Here we focus on changes to Alberta’s labour relations regime. As a result of recent enactments, a number of significant changes to Alberta’s Labour Relations Code (“LRC”) are now in effect, as outlined below. Continue Reading Card-Based Certification and Other Key Changes to the Alberta Labour Relations Code

The Government of Canada released its 2018 budget plan on February 27, 2018, entitled “Equality and Growth”. The budget plan proposes various initiatives aimed at improving women’s equality in the workforce and addressing the gender wage gap. The budget proposes to implement a new parental leave benefit that is likely to have an impact upon both provincially and federally regulated employers. The budget also proposes changes to the federal pay equity regime and online reporting of pay information filed under the Employment Equity Act. Continue Reading Budget 2018: New Parental Leave Benefit & Pay Equity Regime