Employment Law Articles

Sometimes employers too easily confuse when an employee has voluntarily decided to leave. Whether through insincerity or neglect, this is one situation where employers may try to rid themselves of an undesirable employee, without paying any severance. But not so fast. Some resignations are actually terminations in disguise. more

My wife works at a small company in Ontario, which has less than 10 staff including the owner. She gets two weeks of vacation but she has no say as to when she may take her vacation days. There are 10 statutory holidays and the owner has mandated that the office close on the day before a long weekend and that the day the office is closed be counted as a vacation day for payroll. Is this legal? If it is not, what can my wife do to change this? more

I’m about to purchase another similar business that will effectively double my business. I wish to retain all the staff at the new business and, with the exception of one employee, all have been there short periods (1 to 5 years).

There is one person with 20 years’ experience. Obviously, I would inherit the severance liability if I recognized those 20 years (but I am not buying the corporation, just the assets) but the current vendor does not want to “discount” the price of the business by the amount that I have calculated I could be liable for, should that employee not work out. In fairness to the situation, I don’t believe the employee will ever force me to terminate his employment; however, business is business. I need to protect myself. more

Few workers get less sympathy than telecommuters. This is because they do not commute at all. However, from a legal perspective, although telecommuters or remote workers may be out of sight, they are not out of mind for employers.

They must be treated similar to any other employee, even if the nature of their “workplace” differs considerably. Often this does not occur. What are some of the legal disputes faced by Canadian employers and employees who work remotely? more