In the first quarter of 2016 we wrote about the Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 (the “Police Record Checks Act”) - new legislation to standardize the process by which police record checks are requested, conducted and obtained in Ontario.
In 2017, Ontario’s Liberal Government introduced and passed Bill 148, referred to as the “Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017” (“Bill 148”). Controversial on many fronts, Bill 148 made sweeping changing to Ontario’s employment and labour landscape.
The Cannabis Act comes into force today - October 17, 2018. Each provincial jurisdiction has its own legislation governing where cannabis may be consumed.
On May 8, 2018, the Ontario government quietly passed an amendment to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (“WSIA”) making it easier for nurses and front line healthcare workers to access WSIA benefits.
In June 2013, a 6-3 majority of the Supreme Court of Canada struck down as unreasonable a program of random breathalyzer alcohol testing for safety sensitive positions at Irving Pulp and Paper Ltd.
As many of you will recall, in 2006, the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) was amended making it illegal to require an employee to retire at age 65.
Most employers know Ontarians are headed to the polls on June 7, 2018. What employers may not know is that an employee could be entitled to up to three hours free from work, with pay, to cast a ballot.
Bill 148 ushered in significant amendments to the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”), one of which was a costly change to the calculation of public holiday pay.
In March 2017, the Minister Responsible for Accessibility (“Minister”) established a Standards Development Committee (“SDC”) to review the Employment Standards provisions of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (“AODA”).
Bill 3, the Pay Transparency Act, 2018, passed Third Reading in the Ontario Legislature on Thursday, April 26, 2018. The legislation will require an employer to disclose certain compensation information about, and to, employees and prospective employees, and restrict the information an employer may solicit during the hiring process.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour has announced its annual “blitz and initiatives” schedule for 2018-19, designed to encourage and enforce employer-compliance under the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).
In a recent decision1, the Court of Appeal for Ontario held it is possible to comply with all relevant regulations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”)
