Legal
Social Media in the World of Employment Law
With websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, , Youtube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch etc., our daily montage of comments, observations, celebrations, drunken debauchery, frustrations, relationship woes and what we ate for breakfast are now more public than ever before. But how does this online instant publication translate into the world of workplace law?
Vacations and Vacation Pay
Part 7 of the Employment Standards Act provides for minimum levels of vacation time and vacation pay for your employees. Vacation time is the time an employee is entitled to take off from work, while vacation pay provides employees with pay while absent during vacation.
Reservist Leave
The Employment Standards Act provides statutory job protection to civilians serving as military reservists in the Canadian Forces.
Overtime Pay
Overtime pay is often necessary in order to meet customer, production or other operational demands. However, it is crucial that you understand the intricacies of the overtime provisions in the Employment Standards Act, in order to manage the overtime you pay and ensure you don’t incur liability for overtime you might fail to pay.
Minimum Wages
The issue of minimum wages is sometimes a source of confusion, particularly when commissions, incentives or bonus schemes are factored in.
Leaves of Absence
Part 6 of the Employment Standards Act provides all employees, regardless of their length of employment, with the right to certain unpaid leaves of absence while protecting the right to return to work. These provisions of the Act provide important, mandatory obligations on the part of the employer.
Key Issues of the ESA
What follows is a brief review of your obligations under the Employment Standards Act on the key issues of overtime, uniforms, tips, dine-and-dash, cash shortages, vacations, split shifts, call-in, statutory holidays and breaks.
Investigation, Mediation and Adjudication
The Employment Standards Act (ESA) gives the Director broad powers of investigation and inspection.
Privacy in the Workplace
Comprehensive legislation concerning privacy and access to information has been in place for several years, but it is often overlooked by employers. It is important to consider the impact such legislation has on information you may have about your employees, customers, competitors or the general public. Below, we outline the existing legislation, recent amendments, and possible changes to the federal privacy regime in future.
Employee Privacy? What Privacy?
The scope of an employee’s right to privacy with respect to their workplace computer has been an increasingly contentious issue. In R v. Cole, a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), the Court tackled this issue within the context of a constitutional challenge on the admissibility of evidence in a criminal trial.