No, in Ontario, employers cannot force their employees to come into work early for unpaid meetings or the like. Likewise, employers cannot ask their employees to show up early to prepare or get something ready unless they are being paid for all the time they are there. The Ontario Employment Standards Act requires that all “work” is paid. To …

Employers are allowed to give a bad reference in Canada. The law is clear: If an employer wants to communicate negative comments about a past or present employee, it is free to do so. There are no employment standards rules or regulations about job references in Canada. Rather, the legal framework for reference letters is …

Can An Employer Refuse Vacation Time In Ontario? Yes. As discussed below, in Ontario, employers can refuse an employee’s request to take vacation time on specific dates. Vacation time rules in Ontario are contained in the Employment Standards Act, which is the minimum standard of employment law in this province. For example, the Employment Standards Act sets the …

Some employees in Ontario are misclassified by their employers as independent contractors and denied minimum employment standards to which they would normally be entitled to such as overtime pay and vacation pay, among others. “In the rising gig economy, employee misclassification is becoming more common”. https://www.lawtimesnews.com/practice-areas/labour-and-employment/employee-misclassification-remains-key-concern/263389 The fact is – employees are covered by Ontario’s Employment …

Short Answer: September 30 Holiday In Ontario  No, the September 30 holiday is not recognized in Ontario. The September 30 holiday was created by the Federal Government but the Ontario Government chose not to follow it. Thus, the September 30 holiday only applies to rare Ontario workplaces regulated by the federal government (i.e., banks) and …

Yes, if you were fired, your employer is free to say you were fired. However, if you were terminated without cause for no real reason or business reasons like downsizing, then your employer can’t tell that or imply that you were fired for cause for serious misconduct, otherwise it would be defamation. Accordingly, unless your …

Who Is Required to Have a Workplace Health and Safety Policy? As per the Occupational Health and Safety Act, in Ontario, most employers must create and then review a written workplace health and safety policy once a year.  Specifically, employers with six or more workers must create a written health and safety policy.  Employers with five or fewer …

It is not always illegal to fire an employee on maternity leave. Employers can lawfully terminate an employee on maternity leave for any non-discriminatory reason (or no reason at all). Still, they cannot terminate an employee because she went on maternity leave. The latter is workplace discrimination, which is unlawful. In other words, in the absence of …

In Ontario, you cannot collect severance if you retire voluntarily, but you can collect severance if you are asked to retire or given a “retirement package”. Alternatively, your employer may have a retirement plan/policy in place that vests over your whole career and pays you a “severance” once you choose to exercise it.  Retiring Without …

There is a misconception that individuals in Ontario simply cannot be let go from their job when they are on a long-term disability leave/benefits. Rather, for one, generally, employers in Ontario can terminate any employee without cause for most business reasons, at any time, including when they are on long term disability. Second, employers can …