Special thanks to co-presenter Sarah Mavula.
Quebec’s Bill 96 significantly expanded existing French language requirements under Quebec’s Charter of the French language, including new translation requirements for a wide range of employment documents. Similarly, the treatment of commercial standard form contracts (or contracts of adhesion) must now be translated into French first, even if the parties agree to
To wrap up 2023, we have highlighted the key developments in Canadian labour and employment law, with a focus on Ontario.
1. Ontario’s Working for Workers Acts
In 2023, the Ontario government continued building on previous legislation by passing Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023, and introducing Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023. These two bills are the latest in a series of legislative changes expanding employee rights which started with Bill 27 and Bill 88, passed in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023, received royal assent on October 26, 2023. Some of its key changes include:
Please consult our previous blog post for more detailed information on this Bill.
If passed, Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023, which carried second reading on November 23, 2023 and was referred to a standing committee on social policy, would also introduce significant changes to a number of Ontario employment-related statutes. Among them, the Bill would require employers to disclose pay information in job postings (i.e., expected compensation or a range of expected compensation), and whether they use artificial intelligence in the hiring process. Additionally, and in an effort to eliminate discriminatory requirements towards immigrants, employers would also be prohibited from requiring Canadian experience. For more information on these changes, please read our previous blog post on the topic.
2. Legislative Push for Pay Transparency in Canada
The past year has also seen a growing pay transparency trend, both in Canada and abroad, intended to help bridge the pay gap for historically-disadvantaged groups. Among the latest developments in this area, British Columbia passed the Pay Transparency Act, creating new obligations for employers to disclose certain pay information in publicly-advertised job postings, and to prepare annual pay transparency reports if they qualify as a “reporting employer” under the legislation. This new law also prohibits reprisal against employees for discussing or inquiring about their pay or for asking the employer to comply with its statutory pay transparency obligations.
Other provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island have passed similar legislation. We covered this pay transparency trend in greater detail in two blog posts, accessible here and here. Ontario is also expected to amend the ESA to require the disclosure of certain pay information in job postings as part of Bill 179, as discussed above.
3. New Tort of Harassment
Alberta recently became the first Canadian province to recognize the tort of harassment. The development is significant because it departs from Ontario and British Columbia, which have declined to recognize the tort.
In Alberta Health Services v Johnston, 2023 ABKB 209, the Alberta Court of King’s Bench recognized the tort of harassment because the harm in question could not be adequately addressed by any existing torts. In this case, Alberta Health Services (“AHS”) and two of its senior employees sued Mr. Johnston for defamation, invasion of privacy, assault and harassment. Mr. Johnston, an online talk show host and mayoral candidate, used his talk show to frequently criticize the AHS’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He referred to the AHS as Nazis and suggested that they should be subject to violent attacks. He targeted one AHS employee, Ms. Nunn, by sharing photos from her social media accounts, attacking her family and alleging she was an alcoholic.
The Court awarded Ms. Nunn, among other things, $100,000 in general damages for harassment.
In recognizing the tort, Justice Feasby canvassed existing case law across the country and found that no existing torts squarely addressed the harms caused by the harassment in question. Justice Feasby determined the tort of harassment exists where a defendant has:
Besides the tort of harassment, other legal avenues that victims of harassment-related claims may pursue include human rights claims, occupational health and safety claims, a complaint with the police and, in Nova Scotia, an application for a cyber-protection order.
Employers should be aware of the legal remedies that may be available to victims of bullying and harassment, including the newly recognized tort of harassment in Alberta. More information can be found on our blog post here.Continue Reading Top Canadian Labour & Employment Law Developments of 2023
What Canadian Employers Need to Know to Ring in 2024
In 2023, we helped Canadian employers overcome a host of new challenges across the employment law landscape. Many companies started the year with difficult cost-cutting decisions and hybrid work challenges. We’ve worked hard to keep our clients ahead of the curve on these issues, as well
Special thanks to our summer associate Daniel Dai for contributing to this update.
British Columbia’s Pay Transparency Act, which received royal assent on May 11, 2023, imposes pay disclosure and reporting obligations on both public and private sector employers to address systemic discrimination in the workplace. It is the latest in a series of new pay transparency laws across Canada.
This push for more transparency to bridge the pay gap for historically disadvantaged groups is a global trend. In the United States, 8 states, including California, Colorado and Washington, along with cities like New York City, have recently adopted salary disclosure laws. There is also pending legislation at the federal level—the Salary Transparency Act—that would require all job postings to include the wage or wage range for a position. Similarly, the European Parliament approved the Pay Transparency Directive in March 2023, which is set to enter into force in 2024. Among other things, this Directive establishes a right to certain pay information and imposes pre-employment pay disclosure obligations on both public and private sector EU employers.
Continue Reading The Legislative Push for Pay Transparency in Canada Mirrors Global Trend
To wrap up 2022 and prepare for 2023, we highlighted key developments in Canadian labour and employment law:
1. COVID-19 Update
Workplace Vaccination Policies
Mandatory vaccination policies remained a prevalent issue in 2022. The first decisions to provide guidance on this topic came out of unionized workplaces, with many upholding vaccination policies.
Background
In October 2021, the Quebec Government passed Bill 59, An Act to modernize the occupational health and safety regime. The Bill makes substantive changes to statutes involving health and safety in the workplace. These changes will gradually come into effect, with some already in force since October and others coming into force from
In a recent decision, Modern Cleaning Concept Inc. v. Comité paritaire de l’entretien d’édifices publics de la région de Québec, the majority of the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) held that a cleaner who had a franchise agreement with a cleaning company was actually an employee, not an independent contractor. This “employee” determination, however, was in the context of a very particular legislative regime, which applied to the specific franchise relationship. Since the cleaner offered his cleaning services in public buildings, he was covered by a collective agreement, the Decree respecting building service employees in the Quebec region (“Decree”), which sets out minimum standards in the workplace (wages, hours of work, overtime, etc.) and is governed by the Act respecting collective agreement decrees (“Act”). With the scope of its provisions being “public order”, the Decree can apply to any contract where an individual is in a relationship determined to be that of “employee” within the meaning of the Act.
Continue Reading Highest Court Rules Quebec Franchisee Was Employee, Not Independent Contractor, Under Provincial Statute
This is the second article in our two-part series in which we highlight changes under Quebec’s Bill 176, An Act to amend the Act respecting labour standards and other legislative provisions mainly to facilitate family-work balance.
In our first article, we outlined the new standard for directors’ and officers’ liability and several new compliance obligations for Quebec employers. Here we focus on changes to leave entitlements.
Continue Reading “Sorry, I Need Time Off” ‒ Quebec Expands Employee Leave Entitlements
The National Assembly of Quebec has made wide-ranging changes to the province’s labour standards legislation. The amendments were enacted through Bill 176, An Act to amend the Act respecting labour standards and other legislative provisions mainly to facilitate family-work balance, which received Royal Assent on June 12, 2018. Employers with operations in Ontario and Alberta, should also be aware that these provinces also made significant changes to their respective employment standards legislation earlier this year.
This is the first of two articles summarizing the key changes in Quebec. This article outlines changes to the scope of liability for directors and officers and new compliance obligations for Quebec employers. The second article will outline changes to leave entitlements.
Continue Reading Quebec Makes Broad Changes to its Workplace Standards
