In the recent decision in Cormier v 1772887 Ontario Limited, an Ontario Superior Court judge stated that in some circumstances it would be reasonable to consider an employee’s years of service as an independent contractor in calculating his or her common law reasonable notice period. The facts of the case were straight-forward. Ms. Cormier worked for the employer as a contractor from 1996 to 2004, at which time she was hired as an employee.…

On April 3, 2019 the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2019 (“Bill 66”) received Royal Assent. The most significant change to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) was the removal of the requirement that the Director approve excess hours and overtime averaging agreements. This change means that employers and employees are free to agree on employees’ hours of work and terms of overtime averaging without the Director’s approval (subject to the restrictions set out in section…

The following deadlines are approaching for the new BC employer health tax: employers required to pay instalments in 2019 must register by May 15, 2019; and the first instalment payment must be paid by June 15, 2019. Employers whose total BC remuneration (on an associated group basis) paid in 2018 exceeds $600,000 are required to pay instalments in 2019. Employers not required to pay instalments in 2019 must register by December 31, 2019 and file…

The BC government has unveiled plans to significantly change the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”), which prescribes the minimum labour standards for regulated workplaces in BC. Bill 8 introduces amendments to a number of the ESA’s provisions and received First Reading on April 29, 2019. Proposed changes are largely to the benefit of employees. Highlights of the amendments, which will directly impact employers, include the following: The director can now at any time and for any…

  When business competitors negotiate a potential merger or acquisition (large or small), they need to bear in mind the Competition Act (Canada).  These rules are often overlooked.  Certainly it is critical to use a binding non-disclosure agreement that limits the purposes for which the information can be used.  Before entering into negotiations, however, businesses should also consider introducing a shared set of guidelines for their conduct. What is gun-jumping? “Gun-jumping” refers to unlawful coordination…

The Privacy Commissioners of Canada, Alberta and British Columbia have jointly issued guidelines aimed at assisting organizations to obtain meaningful consent from individuals for the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information. The Guidelines came into effect in January 2019 and are now applied by the Commissioners when evaluating organizational conduct. They set out seven guiding principles for meaningful consent: Emphasize key elements (i.e. what personal information is being collected, how it will be…

Earlier this month, the Alberta government announced new measures designed to temporarily reduce crude oil and bitumen production in the province, in order to deal with a historically high differential between Alberta oil and bitumen prices, and broader North American prices. An initial curtailment of 8.7% has been announced for January 1, 2019, with expected adjustments to be announced as 2019 progresses and inventories are cleared. To implement the curtailment, the Lieutenant Governor in Council…