Williams HR Law LLP

Departing Employees: Are Your Organization’s Restrictive Covenants Enforcable?

Employers will often include restrictive covenant clauses in their employment agreements in order to protect their business interests in the event of an employee’s departure from employment. While restrictive covenants can be effective in protecting an organization’s interests, courts often deem such covenants unenforceable because they are overly broad, unenforceable or ambiguous. The Supreme Court […]

Federal Elections: Employers’ Responsibilities

On Monday, October 19, 2015, Canadians will return to the polls to elect a federal government.  Pursuant to the Canada Elections Act (the “Act”), every Canadian citizen who is 18 years of age or older is entitled to three consecutive hours while polls are open on election day in order to cast their vote.

Employers, Take Care when Suspending During Workplace Investigations

Questions are being raised about the handling of harassment complaints by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) leadership after a document has revealed that the organization was aware of harassment-related allegations against Marcel Aubut, the President, going back as early as 2011.  Recently, an employee of the COC filed a formal complaint against Mr. Aubut for […]

Religious Accommodation in the Workplace: a Clarification for Employers

When Kim Davis, an elected clerk in Rowan County, Ky., refused to sign a gay couple’s marriage license in August, she may well have known the move would be provocative. What she couldn’t predict was how that act of defiance would put her at the centre of an ongoing debate over religious freedom.