The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in employment decisions is controversial. While implementation of AI can make processes faster and easier, it also risks the introduction of biases and discrimination into hiring decisions. As AI is a rapidly developing field, the legal framework with regard to employment has not yet caught up, leading to several …
Human Rights
Victims of sexual assault at work can sue their attacker and their employer for damages (i.e. money). Employers can be vicariously liable for the actions of colleagues, supervisors, managers and owners who sexually assault other employees. Human Rights Damages for Workplace Sexual Assault Rules about sexual assault at work generally fall under the law of sexual …
Discrimination in the workplace means unequal or different treatment or harassment towards an employee (or group of employees) that causes harm. The Ontario Human Rights Code (The “Code”) prohibits discrimination in the workplace. Specifically, section 5(1) of the Code states that every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to employment without discrimination …
Is it illegal to fire an employee when she is pregnant? No, it is not always illegal to fire an employee who is pregnant. Employers can lawfully terminate an employee who is pregnant so long as the reason for the termination was unrelated to the pregnancy. Employers in Ontario can fire an employee at any …
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 …
Background checks encompassing criminal records, credit, driving history, resume and reference checks have become increasingly common for employers to conduct in Ontario. Does your small or medium sized business need to conduct a background check on a potential employee? My company, goHeather, has partnered with Canada’s leading background check provider, Certn. Certn makes background checks …
It is an implied term of all employment contracts in Ontario that employees must be treated with “dignity and respect”. Workplace harassment can cause a breach of the employment contract because such conduct can be the antithesis of “dignity and respect”. Thus, where there is workplace harassment amounting to a breach of the contract, it …
In order of appearance, from newest to oldest, here are the employment law cases that shaped Ontario and to some extent every jurisdiction in Canada in the 2010s: Amberber v. IBM Canada Ltd., 2018 ONCA 571: Here, the Ontario Court of Appeal provided some clarity on the enforceability of termination clauses especially in regard to …
This article has been updated on March 20, 2020, with news of proposed changes to the Employment Standards Act, but may still be out of date due to Ontario legislation changes resulting from COVID-19, which are currently in flux. Maximum sick leave in Ontario Section 50.2 of the Ontario Employment Standards Act (minimum statutory protections for Ontario …
The Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) prohibits discrimination in employment. However, the Code does not prohibit general bullying and harassment in employment. A successful claim of bullying and harassment at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) requires an applicant show that one of the prohibited grounds of the Code was a factor in the …