Miller Canfield (JD Supra Canada)

The Ontario Government has declared a second provincial emergency in response to COVID-19 under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (the "Act"). The Act provides the Ontario Government with wide authority to implement measures and restrictions on individuals and businesses operating across the province by way of new emergency orders under the Act.

In a recent publication, the Government of Ontario is encouraging all employers to develop and implement a COVID-19 Safety Plan as part of their obligation to comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”). A government template is available to assist employers in this regard. While employers do not need to submit their plan to the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development,

In the recent decision of Manthadi v Asco Manufacturing, 2020 ONCA 485 (“Manthadi”), the Ontario Court of Appeal has clarified that an employee’s past service with their former employer does not automatically transfer to a successor employer for the purposes of calculating their common law reasonable notice entitlements. Instead, in order to fashion an appropriate notice period, the courts will...

As the old adage goes, "less is more." This might now be true for termination clauses in employment contracts after a recent decision from Ontario's top court. In Waksdale v Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391 ("Waksdale"), the employer had an employment agreement that contained a termination clause broken up into two common parts: 1) a "Termination for Cause" provision; and 2) a "Terminat

As discussed in our recent newsletter, the new Bill 195 – Reopening Ontario (A Flexible response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 contains a provision that terminated the COVID-19 declared emergency. It read: “17 Unless it has been terminated before this section comes into force, the COVID-19 declared emergency is terminated and Ontario Regulation 50/20 (Declaration of Emergency) is revoked.”

As discussed in our previous newsletter, the Ontario Government passed the O. Reg 228/20 - Emergency Leave: Declared Emergencies and Infectious Disease Emergencies on March 19, 2020. This Regulation altered how layoffs and constructive dismissals were treated under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 ("ESA") by, amongst other things, deeming an employee to be on an Emergency Leave when the...

At the beginning of 2020, you were operating a successful franchise – you had a steady stream of customers, happy employees, and royalty and ad fund payments were regularly submitted on time. It was smooth sailing until around March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in forced closures, business losses, and general uncertainty about the future.

Over these past few weeks, there has been a great deal of concern related to the layoff provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 ("ESA"). As discussed in our previous newsletter, employers have the ability under the ESA to lay off employees for a maximum of 13 weeks in a consecutive 20-week period or, in certain circumstances, 35 weeks in a consecutive 52-week period.

Over this last week, the Government of Canada has announced various changes to the programs that it has put in place to support businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This brief article provides an overview of these changes and proposals...

Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance - The Government of Canada announced further details of its new Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program on April 24, 2020. The CECRA is intended to allow small businesses to reduce their rent by up to 75%.

Further to our most recent newsletter, the Prime Minister announced on April 16, 2020, that the Government of Canada has: ..Expanded the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) to businesses that paid between $20,000 and $1.5 million in total payroll in 2019. This new range will replace the previous one of between $50,000 and $1 million, and will increase the number of small businesses who are...

Bill 47, also called the "Making Ontario Open for Business Act," was passed and given royal assent on November 21, 2018. This new act relaxes demands on employers by repealing or altering many of the changes that came into effect last year under the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act of 2017 ("Bill 148").

Employers with operations in Ontario should be aware of some newly enacted changes to the Employment Standards Act. On Nov. 22, 2017, the Province of Ontario introduced the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 (“Act”). This new legislation makes several important changes to both the Employment Standards Act, 2000, and the Labour Relations Act, 1995.