Work Life Balance
Work life balance is the need to equalize the amount of time you spend at work and in your personal life. Legally, your employer has limits on how far they can encroach on your personal time and family commitments.
Category: Featured Articles
Summary Judgement | Fast Tracking Your Wrongful Dismissal Lawsuit
The Summary Judgement is a cost effective court procedure that allows lawyers to fast track settlement of wrongful dismissal lawsuits. They level the playing field for employees by taking away the fear of long and drawn-out legal battles with employers, who might have deep pockets.
The Legal Quandary of Contract Workers and Taxes
Bill 148 requires employers to classify workers as employees, dependent contractors or independent contractors. Provincial laws protect dependent contractors just like employees. However, the Federal Income Tax Act does not yet recognize dependent contractor status. What should you do if the CRA wrongfully assesses you as an independent contractor when you are a dependent contractor?
Sham Layoffs: Are You Leaving Money on The Table?
Recognizing the Signs of an Unlawful Layoff | Layoffs must meet very specific conditions outlined in the Employment Standards Act. Some employers cycle their employees through random sham layoffs, making work schedules and income so unpredictable that employees end up quitting in frustration. This is a common cost saving tactic during economic downturns to avoid termination pay.
Getting Fired While Pregnant
Nothing can be more distressing to a woman than getting fired while pregnant. Pregnancy and parenting affect the productivity of our fast-paced and competitive workplaces, leaving pregnant women particularly sensitized to the subject of job security. And this is specifically why our employment laws protect pregnant women more than any other employee.
Misclassifying Contract Workers
Ontario’s employment laws have been updated to uphold the rights of a workforce increasingly employed in the “gig economy”, with contract, part-time and temporary work. Today, employers must be clear about the status of their temps. As Dependent Contractors, they are not inferior to employees. Misclassifying them as “independent contractors” is unlawful.
Disability Benefits: No Peace in Peace of Mind Contracts
Disability Benefit Contracts supposedly offer peace of mind – The promise of income replacement if you are suddenly disabled or taken ill. Yet claimants often find no peace of mind when they make a claim to receive them.
Part-Time Workers
Equal Pay for Equal Work becomes law in April 2018. Part-time workers, temps and seasonal employees can now expect the same wages as their full-time counterparts if they perform virtually the same job. A part-time job status is not inferior and entitles you to equal benefits, pro-rated, that full-time employees receive. And yes, that includes notice and severance pay when you are dismissed without cause.
Successor Employers: Your Company has Changed Hands
What happens to your job when your company is sold? Can the new “Successor Employer” change the terms of your employment contract? The answer is unclear because of a recent controversial court decision.
Criminal Records and Your Job
Every year, thousands of Canadians commit crimes; their Criminal Records follow them around causing problems in everyday life, including at work. Can your employer discriminate against you for having a Criminal Record even after you have done your time and paid your dues?