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Special thanks to co-authors Julia Webster and Jing Xu, and contributor Oscar Ramirez (articling student in our Toronto office).

This article provides an overview of the global rise in human and labor rights legislation linked to trade measures and how this impacts the consumer goods and retail industry.

We examine:

  • Canada’s efforts to enforce the existing import prohibitions on goods mined or manufactured with forced labor under the Customs Tariff
  • Compliance under the recently passed Bill S-211, Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff, which comes into force on 1 January 2024
  • The need for organizations doing business in Canada to develop compliance measures on the import prohibition under the Customs Tariff, the new reporting requirements under Bill S-211, and the importance of continuing enterprise and supply chain scrutiny.

Click here to access full alert.

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We are pleased to share a recent Canadian HR Reporter article, “What do employers in Quebec need to know about new OHS rules?,” with insight from Ajanthana Anandarajah.

The article discusses new rules and policies employers need to follow now that remote workers are legally recognized in Quebec. Updates include remote work recognition, new hazard identifications and protection plans.

The article is accessible here.

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Special thanks to co-authors, Krissy Katzenstein, Brad Newman, Robin J. Samuel, and Julia Wilson.

Amid recent hype around ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (AI), many are eager to harness the technology’s increasingly sophisticated potential.

However, findings from Baker McKenzie’s 2022 North America AI survey indicate that business leaders may currently underappreciate AI-related risks to their organization. Only 4% of C-suite level respondents said they consider the risks associated with using AI to be “significant,” and less than half said they have AI expertise at the board level.

These figures spotlight a concerning reality: many organizations are underprepared for AI, lacking the proper oversight and expertise from key decision-makers to manage risk. And if unaddressed, organizational blind spots around the technology’s ethical and effective deployment are likely to overshadow transformative opportunities while causing organizations to lose pace with the explosive growth of the technology.

Click here to continue reading this article.

Original article published in World Economic Forum.

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Special thanks to Jose (Pepe) Larroque, Salvador Pasquel Villegas, and Martha Mayorga-Luna.

“Nearshoring” in Mexico is a hot topic for multinational companies considering moving business and manufacturing closer to home. COVID-19-era global supply chain disruptions and changes to the global economy are causing companies to reexamine their sourcing options and relocating to Mexico has much appeal. According to an analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute, in 2021, American investors put more money into Mexico – buying companies and financing projects – than into China. 

Our team is advising on both the business opportunities and the potential challenges from an employment perspective when transferring business services and production to Mexico. 

In this Quick Chat video, our Labor & Employment lawyers along with the Managing Partner for Baker McKenzie’s Mexico offices discuss key nuances of the new labor subcontracting laws in Mexico, the current labor collective environment, considerations for companies operating under an IMMEX Program, and more. Listen in for practical tips to navigate this new business horizon. 

Click here to watch the video.

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Special thanks to Eloise Somera (articling student in our Toronto office) for co-authoring.

Before the end of 2023, and every three years thereafter, all businesses or non-profits with twenty or more employees in Ontario must confirm their ongoing compliance with the accessibility requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) and submit an accessibility compliance report to the Ontario Government. The same reporting requirement applies to designated public sector organizations, but they must submit an accessibility compliance report every two years.

Failure to submit an accessibility compliance report can lead to significant penalties and fines by the Ontario Ministry of Labour (the Ministry).

Required Self-Assessment

AODA’s accessibility compliance report is intended to be an organization’s self-assessment of its compliance with Ontario’s accessibility requirements, including a confirmation that the organization is complying with the Accessibility Standards. The types of questions a business must answer will depend on what organization category it falls into (i.e., business or non-profit, designated public sector, or Ontario public service/Ontario Legislative Assembly). This is because different businesses are subject to different accessibility requirements under AODA. (Electronic copies of the applicable form can be downloaded on the government’s website here.)

As a business, non-profit, or a designated public sector organization, the organization can expect to answer questions regarding whether it:

  • employs any person with disabilities for whom it has provided individualized workplace emergency response information;
  • provides appropriate training on AODA, which includes the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation;
  • provides appropriate training on Ontario’s Human Rights Code as it pertains to people with disabilities; and
  • has implemented a multi-year accessibility plan, and if yes, whether that plan is posted on the organization’s website, and whether it is updated at least once every five (5) years.
Continue Reading Workplace Accessibility Reports Under Ontario’s AODA Due By December 31, 2023
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Special thank you to co-presenters, Sarah Bahn and Daniel Urdiain.

Our on-the-ground immigration and mobility attorneys explore considerations for US employers looking to send foreign national employees to work in Canada or Mexico if they were not selected in the H-1B visa lottery this year and what steps to take before the next H-1B cap lottery period opens.

Click here to watch the video.

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Special thanks to co-presenters, Krissy Katzenstein and Kaitlin Thompson.

With a surge in layoffs taking place over the past year, many of those originally hired to diversify the workplace have been impacted, and studies show that inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E) professionals have been affected by layoffs at a higher rate than others. The harm? Other than potentially hurting employee morale and sidelining efforts to improve ID&E in the workplace, employers risk exposing themselves to litigation.

In this installment of ID&E IMPACT, our labor and employment team in the US and Canada explore employer concerns including an uptick in discrimination and harassment claims, the proliferation of claims based on pay disparity, bias claims arising from the use of AI in recruitment and hiring, and practical tips to mitigate risk from an ID&E perspective. 

Click here to watch the video.

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Join us for a four-part webinar series as our US moderators welcome colleagues from around the globe to share the latest labor and employment law updates and trends. US-based multinational employers with business operations in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas regions will hear directly from local practitioners on the major developments they need to know, and come away with practical tips and takeaways to implement.

In each 60-minute discussion, we will explore:

  • The impact of the current economic and political climate on multinational employers
  • The current restructuring and cost-cutting landscape (benchmarking & jurisdiction-specific hurdles to plan for)
  • New significant legislative developments
  • Local hot topics in the inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E) space

We look forward to welcoming you at the sessions relevant to your business — no passport or line ups for customs necessary!

ASIA PACIFIC
Australia, China, the Philippines and Singapore
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
3 pm PT/ 6 pm ET
Click here to register.

EUROPE
France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
9 am PT/ 12 pm ET
Click here to register.

THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye and the UAE
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
9 am PT/ 12 pm ET
Click here to register.

THE AMERICAS
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia and Mexico
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
9 am PT/ 12 pm ET
Click here to register.

To view these programs in a different time zone, click here. 
Please “register” for a copy of the recording and materials if you are unable to attend live.

To view the complete roster of presenters for each regional program, click here.

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Special thanks to Jose (Pepe) Larroque, Carlos Martin Del Campo and Javiera Medina-Reza.

The Mexico Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) has announced that it will carry out an estimated 42,000 inspections in 2023. The inspections carry the possibility of significant fines and penalties issued per violation, per employee. It is imperative for global employers with operations in Mexico to train personnel and response teams on best practices for managing potential inspections and mitigating risk, including maintaining all necessary information and documents that must be supplied during an inspection.

In this Quick Chat video, our Labor & Employment partners in Mexico along with the Managing Partner for Baker McKenzie’s Mexico offices discuss what to expect from an inspection and outline the penalties for noncompliance. They also share insights from the field, discuss the potential defenses and warn against the possible registration cancelation for specialized service providers.

Click here to watch the video.

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On March 20, 2023, Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023, carried on a first reading in the Ontario legislature. If passed, Bill 79 will significantly amend several employment-related statutes and expand on legislative changes introduced in the Working for Workers Acts, 2021 and 2022.

Summary of Key Changes

The most important potential changes include:

  • Mass Termination: Employees who work remotely from home will be included in the count for mass termination provisions under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA“). The result is that remote employees will receive the same eight-week minimum notice of termination or pay-in-lieu as their in-office colleagues. Currently, the meaning of “establishment” under the mass termination provisions only encompasses the physical location at which an employer carries on business, and does not include an employee’s private residence. If Bill 79 is passed as currently drafted, the proposed amendments to the mass termination provisions will come into force on the later of July 1, 2023, or the date on which Bill 79 receives Royal Assent.
  • Health and Safety: The maximum fine that may be imposed on a corporation convicted of an offence under the Occupational Health and Safety Act will increase from $1.5 million to $2 million.
  • Reservist Leave: The Employment Standards Act, 2000 will be amended to entitle an employee who is in treatment, recovery or rehabilitation in respect of a physical or mental health illness, injury or medical emergency that results from participation in certain operations or activities to reservist leave. Further, reservists who are deployed to emergency operations inside Canada will be entitled to take this leave immediately regardless of the length of their employment, and the length of employment required to take this leave for all other reasons will be reduced from three months to two months.
  • Personal Information in Post-Secondary Education: Section 15 of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act will be amended to permit the collection, disclosure and use of personal information for purposes related to certain employment programs and services. This includes disclosing personal information to persons or entities that administer, evaluate or deliver employment programs or services funded by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development for the purpose of administering and delivering those programs or services.
  • Temporary Foreign Workers: The Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act, 2009 will be amended to increase penalties employers and people who are convicted of taking possession of or retaining a foreign national’s passport or work permit. For individuals, the penalty will increase to a fine of not more than $500,000 and/or imprisonment for a term of not more than 12 months. For corporations, the penalty will increase to a fine of not more than $1,000,000.
  • Job Information Transparency: Employers will be required to provide employees starting a new job with information about their job, such as pay, work location and hours of work, and the date by which that information needs to be provided. These draft regulations have not been published yet, but we will continue to monitor this significant amendment closely.

Continue Reading Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023 Carries on First Reading, with Potential for Major Changes Ahead