In Ontario (and Canada), employment contracts as a concept are enforceable. However, not every employment contract is enforceable.  Employment contracts, as in written agreements setting out the terms and conditions of employment are perfectly allowed, valid and enforceable on their own.  In Canada, we follow the principle of Freedom To Contract. Indeed, Canadian courts will …

There is some misconception about wrongful dismissal in Ontario. Particularly, some individuals believe you to prove you were dismissed unfairly or arbitrability to prove wrongful dismissal. This, however, couldn’t be farther from the truth. All you have to do to prove wrongful dismissal is show you were not provided “reasonable” notice of your dismissal.  In …

Unless they have a written employment contract that says otherwise, every employer in Ontario must give “reasonable notice” of their intention to terminate an employee when it is ‘without cause’. Employers can terminate employees in one of two ways: for cause or without cause. A for cause termination is very rare, and generally only stands …

In our last blog post, we discussed ‘must have’ workplace policies in Ontario. But, in this blog post, we will discuss ‘good to have’ or ‘nice to have’ recommended workplace policies. Although none of these workplace policies is required by any legislation in Ontario, they are all encouraged by HR experts and employment lawyers because …

In Ontario, five workplace policies are required for most employers.  While most employers are lawfully required to have these five HR policies in place, they can create them themselves. There is no need to get a lawyer or other third-party HR consultant to create them. However, a good lawyer or another HR expert can help …

The duty to mitigate is the rule that individuals who are dismissed from work must look for a new job during their notice period. For example, if someone is dismissed from work and they ought to receive twelve months’ notice, then during that next twelve months, they must look for a new job as per …

Generally, whenever someone in Ontario is fired before they start their first day of work, they are entitled to severance (also known as ‘reasonable notice’) just the same as someone who had worked several years for the employer. The same applies to employees whose accepted offers are withdrawn or rescinded. The Law of Dismissal: Absent …

Termination And Bonus Law In Ontario  Generally, yes, Ontario employees are entitled to their bonus after termination. In Ontario, employees who are terminated without cause are entitled to “notice” of termination. Employers can provide working notice or pay in lieu of notice. Working notice is when an employee is asked to stay on for the …

It is clear that workers are starting to get “Zoom fatigue” and that experts agree that one treatment for this condition is switching off the camera. Even still, some employers still force their employees to leave the camera on for all Zoom meetings regardless of importance. Thus, a legal issue arises. Can employers do that? Can an …

No, employers in Ontario do not have to provide benefits to employees. Rather, all Ontario employers must contribute to and deduct monies for certain statutory benefits (e.g. EI and CPP) for all their employees. Otherwise, Ontario employers have a choice on all other kinds of benefits on whether to provide them or not.  Benefits: Summary …