If you landed on this blog post, you are probably looking to retain an employment lawyer or employment law firm, and you are doing your due diligence. Good for you. Never hire a lawyer without doing research. You need to be meticulous. If you are an employee, you are trusting someone with one of the biggest issues you have ever had in your life. If you are an employer, you are trusting someone to efficiently…

Wrongful Dismissal Definition Wrongful dismissal means a claim made by an employee that their employer has breached their employment agreement with regard to those terms and conditions concerning employment termination. The following are a list of examples of wrongful dismissal claims. Wrongful Dismissal Example 1: Not enough severance If an employee is not provided enough severance, it is a wrongful dismissal. Thus, the question becomes, how much severance is an employee entitled to? Read our…

There are three types of working relationships: (1) employer-employee; (2) contractor-independent contractor, and (3) contractor-dependent contractor. All three are treated differently vis-à-vis employment rights. Importantly, only employees and dependent contractors get severance. Independent contractors do not get severance. However, as this blog post makes clear, a worker’s time spent as an ‘independent contractor’ may be considered in calculating severance if the worker was hired later as an ‘employee’. Cormier v. 1772887 Ontario Limited c.o.b. as…

Employment contracts outline an employee and employer’s agreed upon terms and conditions, usually at the very least salary and job description.  However, it is a best practice for both parties, especially at the at the executive level, to include more than just salary and job description. Executive employment contracts are in fact usually different from non-executive employment contracts in that they generally include terms and conditions that are not typically contemplated by the parties to…

In Canada, a requirement to conduct a workplace investigation is triggered in case of harassment, sexual harassment or violence. What then is required of such a workplace investigation? In short, a “reasonable” investigation is required. What are the requirements of a “reasonable” workplace investigation? It is impossible to say for certain what is required in each and every workplace investigation. Some cases call out for more while other cases call out for less stringent requirements.…

The right to accommodation at work in Canada is not absolute. Employers can terminate or suspend disabled employees. Employers only have an obligation to accommodate disabled employees up to “undue hardship”. Thus, the question becomes, what is undue hardship? Undue hardship is a fluid, case-by-case contextual examination of any of number of factors that measure the burden of accommodation versus the reasonable ability of the employer to make the accommodation. The most oft cited factors…