The long search for the perfect failsafe provision in employment agreement termination clauses may be over with the Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Amberber v. IBM Canada Ltd. “This decision is a heartening result for employers seeking to enforce termination clauses in their employment contracts,” says Jennifer Dolman, a lawyer in Osler, Hoskin & […]
Until recently, Alberta common-law couples that were splitting up couldn’t divide their pension assets, even if both parties wanted to. This changed in April 2018, after the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta heard Lubianesky v. Gazdag. It determined the provision of the Employment Pension Plans Act that prevented such division was unconstitutional. In 2015, two […]
The Canadian Group Insurance Brokers is partnering with Vancouver-based ConnectsUs HR to provide its members with online human resources programs for its members’ clients. Members of the broker-focused group benefits association can choose from two different programs to help clients manage human resources and legal issues. “What we offer through CGIB membership is two programs called Love your Clients or […]
While the federal government has pushed forward the initial target date of July 1 for legalizing recreational cannabis to Oct. 17, employers will still be busy trying to prepare for all of the issues they’ll have to deal with. Benefits Canada has been covering the issue since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party first committed to legalizing […]
Although employers in Ontario have just as much obligation to address sexual and violent harassment from customers or members of the public as they do when it happens between colleagues, the process can be more challenging, according to one legal expert. “From a legal perspective, the source of the harassing behaviour being a member of […]
When it instituted random drug testing last year, the Toronto Transit Commission was eager to ensure its employees knew what it expected of them. To get the message out, the transit authority mailed a handbook last year to the home of every employee and published it online so all workers would be fully aware of […]
Sears Canada Inc. retirees are facing clawbacks to their pensions due to 10 months of overpayments. Since October 2017, the retailer’s former employees have been receiving 100 per cent of their entitlement, rather than the reduced rate that aligns with the plan’s underfunded status. Morneau Shepell Ltd., the firm overseeing the plan’s windup process, originally […]
More than half (52 per cent) of Canadian employers said they’re concerned or very concerned about the implications of legalized marijuana on the workplace, according to a report by the Conference Board of Canada. A third (33 per cent) of respondents said they’re slightly concerned and 15 per cent said they aren’t concerned at all. Among those concerned, 57 per cent cited workplace […]
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal’s recent ruling that it’s unconstitutional for plan sponsors to discontinue benefits for employees after the age of 65 represents a fundamental shift for employers, according to one labour and employment lawyer. “Previously, the Human Rights Tribunal would not enforce any discrimination issues if employers were to cut off benefits at […]
While a recent court ruling has given some relief to plan sponsors concerned about having an obligation cover medical marijuana under their benefits plans, they still face a number of questions with legalization of the recreational version of the drug coming fast. That was a key message from Loretta Bouwmeester, a partner at Mathews Dinsdale […]