Employment contracts in Ontario: A practical guide for employers
Employment contracts should be used for every employee, regardless of their role, pay level, or whether they are full-time, part-time, or temporary. While the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) provides basic rights and protections, an employment contract sets additional terms that can be tailored to the specific role or company policies.
SpringLaw
6 minutes read
November 20, 2024 
Employee benefits and internal controls
Employee benefits require internal controls in addition to all the effort that goes into designing benefit packages to attract and retain talent. As such, human resources, payroll, benefits administrators and finance must be involved in benefits administration to ensure compliance, accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency. In fact, consider this the first internal control over employee benefits.
Apolone Gentles, JD, CPA,CGA, FCCA, Bsc (Hons)
Best practices when completing a Record of Employment (ROE): A starting point
Among the many forms employers need to be aware of and complete, the Record of Employment (“ROE”) is high on the list. Employees need an ROE to access Employment Insurance benefits, and an ROE must be issued any time an employee has had or is anticipated to have seven consecutive calendar days with no insurable earnings.
Simes Law
Employers, it’s time to wake up: Nepotism in Canadian workplaces
Although nepotism may not be illegal per se, it poses serious concerns including a bad workplace culture at best and the creation of a toxic work environment at worst, poor employee morale, bad business practices and decision-making, conflicts of interest, and damage to an employer’s reputation.
Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation
What comes next: Google abused its monopoly power
I wrote recently about the landmark antitrust decision in which Google was found to be a monopolist who abused its power regarding general search and text advertising. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is asking the court to impose sanctions against Google to ensure that Google can no longer monopolize the search engine market.
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
A reminder for employers: Unconscious bias in the workplace investigation process
Workplace discrimination can take many forms and may include situations where an employee is the target of unintentional discriminatory behaviour informed by unconscious bias. Unconscious bias refers to social stereotypes about groups of people that individuals form outside of their own conscious awareness. While workplace investigations can play an important role in addressing discrimination, they […]
Vey Willetts LLP
What employers need to know to avoid post-termination surprises: Bonuses and other fringe benefits
In a competitive job market, many employers turn to implementing bonus programs or offering other fringe benefits like car allowances to attract and retain talented employees. However, employers are often surprised to learn that they may owe recently terminated employees ongoing bonus payments and other fringe benefit payments through the employee’s notice period. In this […]
SpringLaw
An employer’s role in the duty to mitigate
Following a termination, employees have an obligation to take reasonable steps to find other employment to minimize their wrongful dismissal damages. Asserting that an employee has failed to comply with their duty to mitigate is a strong tool for employers looking to reduce the amount of damages owed to an employee. However, demonstrating a failure […]
Simes Law
Is requesting a layoff a resignation?
Employers often make the mistake of thinking that they can put an employee on a temporary layoff, so long as they respect the applicable employment standards provisions. To their dismay, they are then served with a constructive dismissal claim.
Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation
