References present a double-edged sword for employers. On one hand, employers typically want former employees to find new jobs as doing so will get them off the company’s severance payroll. On the other hand, providing references may expose employers to dual-pronged liability in negligence and/or defamation. Given the recent news that Canada lost nearly 46,000…
Employers have every reason to vigorously protect their confidential information. In a competitive marketplace, the maximum value of a work product is highly dependent on exclusivity of ownership. And as the saying goes, once the “genie is out of the bottle” it can never be back in. However, a recent case from the Ontario Superior…
Terminating a unionized employee for substance abuse in the workplace is tricky, considering the duty to accommodate and the traditional mitigating factors arbitrators will consider when determining whether termination is an appropriate response (length of employment, discipline record, remorse, etc). A recent arbitration decision might bring some comfort to employers. In Vale (Manitoba Operations) v….
In unionized workplaces, temporary layoffs have long been an employer’s most effective way of responding to economic downturns. But what about non-unionized employers? Traditionally, unless an employer can show that it has an implied or express contractual right to temporarily layoff, a court will find that the interruption to employment will constitute a constructive dismissal…
There has been an ongoing jurisprudential controversy over the issue of whether a federally-regulated employer may lawfully dismiss an employee without cause under Part III of the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”). On July 2, 2013, the Federal Court ruled that the Code permits the dismissal of an employee without cause. However, the dismissal continues…