We are pleased to share a recent Benefits Canada article, “Employers can’t rely on original termination clauses when employee responsibilities increase: court,” with quotes from George Avraam. A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision upheld a motion judge’s award of over $400,000 to an employee on the basis of the changed substratum doctrine. The case

Special thanks to Brendan O’Grady (a senior associate in our Litigation & Government Enforcement Practice Group) and Anton Rizor (articling student in our Toronto office) for co-authoring this blog.

In Flesch v Apache Corporation, the Alberta Court of Appeal (“ABCA”) upheld the certification of an employee class action arising out of the cancellation of

On November 15, 2018, the Ontario government introduced legislation to, among other things, delay the January 1, 2019 in force date of the Pay Transparency Act, 2018  (“Act”). Bill 57, Restoring Trust, Transparency and Accountability Act, 2018, is omnibus legislation to enact, amend and repeal various statutes and is currently at the Second Reading stage.
Continue Reading Ontario Proposes Delay & Rethinking of Pay Transparency Act

The Ontario government has passed Bill 3, Pay Transparency Act, 2018. The Act imposes requirements on employers to promote equality of compensation between men and women, and to increase the transparency of information regarding compensation and workforce composition. The Act is set to come into force on January 1, 2019.
Continue Reading Pay Transparency Obligations Coming But Not Until January 1, 2019

Starting June 10, 2016, Ontario employees have increased protection regarding the tips and gratuities left by customers. As we discussed in a previous post, Bill 12 amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) to prohibit employers from withholding, making deductions from, or collecting tips or other gratuities from employees, unless authorized to do so under the ESA.
Continue Reading Keep the Change! New “Tips” Legislation Coming Into Force

This two-hour CLE program will provide in-house counsel, HR professionals and business leaders with practical guidance and checklists to tackle the key issues that arise when their company moves into new jurisdictions around the world. We will look at three critical elements of international expansion:

  1. Getting the Structure Right, Early.  What factors do you consider when choosing the type of business entity to use for a particular type of business, long term objective and country?  Understand the impact your choice of business entity can have on your future business and related legal issues.
  2. Realities of Global Employment.  What are the most significant international employment, hiring and termination issues for in-house counsel dealing with international expansion and ongoing operations? Take away strategies to help you avoid the biggest pitfalls and successfully manage a global workforce.
  3. Equity Compensation.  How are companies thinking about equity outside of Canada? Learn whether the use of equity grants to provide future incentives and variable compensation for executives and other employees is available or advisable in other jurisdictions in light of securities law, tax withholding/reporting, exchange controls and other requirements.


Continue Reading Going Global: A Practical Survival Guide for Canadian Multinational Employers (May 28, 2015)