How Lawsuits work in Ontario — the Rules of Civil Procedure If you’re filing a lawsuit or being sued, it’s common that your case will start at the Superior Court of Justice, which hears most civil proceedings in Ontario. This Court handles cases related to employment law disputes, commercial disputes, personal injury, bankruptcy, and more. …

Stare decisis – what does it mean? Like a vast majority of the terms used in law, stare decisis is a Latin term. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the term’s literal translation is “let the decision stand”. Stare decisis refers to a principle of precedent. According to this principle, the rules that judges created in earlier decisions in the court, are …

Employers who have contracts with their employees that state explicitly that demotions are allowed, of course, are allowed to lawfully demote their employees in the circumstances prescribed by the contract. However, what happens in the case of employment relationships that do not contemplate demotions in an employment contract? After all, a demotion is a unilateral …

What is severance? Severance means the same thing as “notice”, or “termination pay” or “reasonable notice”, so when we speak about severance, know that we are also talking about “notice”, or “termination pay” or “reasonable notice”. Severance, or “notice”, or “termination pay” or “reasonable notice”, all mean this: the amount of pay an employer must …

Family Caregiver Leave is unpaid, job-protected leave employees in Ontario can take when they must provide care or support to a family member with a serious medical condition.  Because Family Caregiver Leave is “job-protected”, employers cannot terminate or discipline employees for taking such an absence. Family Caregiver Leave Eligibility Unlike most other Ontario statutory leaves, there is …

Independent Contractor Definition Someone who contracts to do a specific piece of work, and provides his or her equipment, and executes the work under his or her terms, without being subject to orders of work is generally an independent contractor, not an employee.  Use our calculator to see if a worker is an employee or an …

Family responsibility leave is unpaid, job-protected leave employees in Ontario can take when a close family member suffers an illness or injury or if there is an “an urgent matter” concerning a close family member. Because family responsibility leave is “job-protected”, employers cannot terminate employees for taking such an absence. To qualify for family responsibility …

What is an Employment Agreement? In Ontario, all employment relationships are contractual whether or not a written employment agreement is signed. Any time an employment relationship is commenced, an employer and employee have an “agreement” to perform things (e.g. employee promised to conduct labour, and the employer promised to pay wages). There doesn’t even need …

What is the correct methodology for calculating the taxable benefit for rent-free apartments provided to building superintendents and the like? Summary A company needs to calculate the fair market value of the employee’s accommodations, plus any monies paid for utilities, cable, etc, minus any funds by the employee for the accommodations. “Fair market value” is …

Labour law is the law of the unionized workplace. This means that labour law applies to the relationship between an employer and its union. In other words, if you are an employer with a union, you are subject to labour law. Likewise, if you are an employee in a union, you are subject to labour …