Articles.
Just Cause Isn’t Dead (It Just Looks That Way)
Employers might be forgiven for thinking that just cause for summary dismissal is, as a legal concept, deceased. Or, as John Cleese once said… “It’s bleeding demised… it’s pa...
Short Service, Lengthy Notice
When mulling over topics for new articles, I sometimes presume I’ve previously covered a subject area. I’ve published about a thousand articles over the years so, really, what possible employment/labour topic could I not have addressed...
Testing For Weed Impairment At Work - W-Day Approaches
I’ve written previously on the topic of the approaching W-Day (Weed-Day, October 17, 2018, when cannabis sale and consumption becomes “legal” across Canada) and about what employers can expect. As I’ve stated, I can’t...
Putting A Lid On Benefits Premiums
It seems I often start off these bulletins by saying, “A number of clients have recently asked me…” and this one is no different. A spate of clients has been asking about how to cease payment of benefits and insurance ...
Overtime Averaging Agreements
I’ve recently received a number of questions from employers about the availability and details of so-called overtime averaging. It’s been years since I last addressed this topic, so I thought I’d get back to basics and talk about...
Imposing Fundamental Changes to the Employment Relationship
Employers frequently wish to impose changes on employees during the course of their ongoing employment. You might think the law on a common topic such as this would be well settled, but there has been a debate in ...
Solving the Seasonal Employee Dilemma
At this time of year, I’m commonly asked by employers about their hiring practices relating to seasonal employees. These seasonal folks pose some real challenges when it comes to the hiring process, particul...
Weed at Work
As W-Day approaches, there seems to be more and more discussion ongoing amongst employers and employment lawyers about what we can expect when marijuana use is legalized. Personally, I can’t decide whether so...
Terminations, Settlements, and the Reference Letter
In the context of terminating an employment relationship, and the related negotiations over the terms of the employee’s departure, the topic of a reference letter is often of supreme importance to the departing in...