The Ashley Madison Leak – Part One of Two: Breach of Confidentiality
As you have undoubtedly heard, the confidential user data of extramarital dating site Ashley Madison was recently leaked. The data leak, which included users’ personal emails and credit card information, has resulted in a class-action lawsuit against Avid Life Media (the Toronto-based parent company of Ashley Madison) and possible links to hate crimes, extortion and […]
Employees Receiving Pay in Lieu of Notice Not Necessarily Entitled to Bonus Payout
As many employers know, if one’s employment is terminated without cause and the employee is provided pay in lieu of reasonable notice, the employee is nonetheless entitled to his or her entire compensation package during the reasonable notice period. This includes salary, benefits, bonus and any other aspects of the compensation package. However, a new […]
Employers: Be Careful when Contracting Work from Temporary Help Agencies
Earlier this year, Ontario’s Ministry of Labour (the “Ministry”) conducted an enforcement blitz of temporary help agencies (“Agencies”). When conducting enforcement blitzes, the Ministry inspects employers’ (or, in this case, Agencies’) records to ensure compliance with the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”). During this year’s enforcement blitz of Agencies, the Ministry conducted inspections of […]
Future Trends in Ontario’s Workplaces: the ‘changing Workplaces Review’
In February 2015 the Ontario Ministry of Labour appointed C. Michael Mitchell, formerly of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP, and the Honourable John C. Murray, a former Ontario Superior Court Justice, as Special Advisors to conduct the Changing Workplaces Review (the “Review”), in which they will assess broad issues affecting Ontario workplaces and provide the Ministry […]
New AODA Compliance Deadlines Coming Soon
All organizations with 20 or more employees (including non-profit organizations), are required to submit their AODA compliance report by December 31, 2014. Organizations with 50 or more employees are required to include in their report compliance with the accessibility regulations implemented on January 1, 2014.
Small Claims Court E-filing for Fixed Amounts Available in Brampton, Oshawa, Ottawa and Richmond Hill
As of July 1, 2014, the Small Claims Court Rules were amended. One of the biggest developments is that a new pilot project was launched by the Ministry of the Attorney General in which plaintiffs in Brampton, Oshawa, Ottawa and Richmond Hill can now file their Claims for certain matters online without stepping foot into […]
Proposed Bill Could Allow the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to Award Costs of Proceedings
On December 13, 2014, the Ontario Legislature carried Bill 147; An Act to amend the Human Rights Code with respect to the awarding of costs of proceedings (the ”Bill”) through first reading. The proposed Bill would give the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) the explicit authority to award legal costs to either the Applicant […]
Ontario Human Rights Commission’s New Policy on Gender Identity & Gender Expression
This year, the Ontario Human Rights Commission released its Policy on preventing discrimination because of Gender Identity and Gender Expression (“Policy”), which is a helpful guide for employers in understanding gender identity and expression, and in meeting their responsibilities under the Ontario Human Rights Code (“Code”) to prevent gender identity and gender expression discrimination.