At the end of 2014, Doug McLeod of the McLeod Law Firm (an employment and labor law firm based out of Ontario, Canada) published a list of the “Top 10 Employment Law Stories of 2014” in Ontario. Here is a summary of several stand-out cases which, in their perspective, changed the employment law landscape in 2014.

The Accessibility for Ontarians with DIsabilities Act created new obligations for Ontario employers to comply with.

As of January 1, 2014, most employer organizations falling under the private sector with 50 employees or more in Ontario (defined as a “large organization”) were required to prepare and post a multi-year accessibility plan, outlining the organization’s strategy to prevent and remove barriers and meet its requirements under Integrated Accessibility Standards. The post would need to be made in any accessible format (including braille, recorded audio, and large print) upon request, and was required to be reviewed and updated at least once every five years. Additionally, a large organization’s new internet websites and web content on those sites must now conform with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published through the World Wide Web Consortium Recommendation in 2008.

The key employer takeaways include:

• Any employer within the private sector currently supporting 50 or more employees should have prepared and posted a multi-year accessibility plan on its website by the end of 2014. If an employer does not comply with this law, they can be fined $100,000 a day.
• If the employer has not posted an accessibility plan, the employer should assign someone within the organization the task of preparing it immediately.
• The employer should ensure that its web content and any sizeable refresh of the website complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by speaking with its IT consultant or IT department.

The Supreme Court of Canada made it much easier to bring a summary judgment motion in to resolve a wrongful dismissal case.

According to McLeod, this kind of motion is typically brought in if an employer terminates an employee without just cause. “During a summary judgement motion, a judge is asked to determine the appropriate reasonable notice period, and whether the employer has not made reasonable efforts to find alternative employment.”

What does this mean for employers?

• Employers will need to make the decision on whether they can (or should) use just cause for termination. According to McLeod, if there is a dispute on the issue, it is unlikely that the case will be decided by way of a summary judgment motion… if not, a plaintiff cannot generally avoid the delay and significant legal costs associated with a trial.

• Employers will need to be able to prove that the plaintiff has made effort to find other employment. McLeod states they can do this by “monitoring the job market, submitting a comprehensive affidavit in opposition to the summary judgement motion, and vigorously cross- examining the plaintiff on his affidavit on this issue”

The Occupational Health and Safety Act’s new regulation made basic safety awareness training for all Ontario workers and supervisors mandatory as of July 1, 2014, focusing specifically on vulnerable workers and small businesses.

As a result, employers must operate a health safety and awareness program for workers which includes instruction on the following areas:

• "The duties and rights of workers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act;
• The duties of employers and supervisors under the Act;
• The roles of health and safety representatives and joint health and safety committees under the Act;
• The roles of the Ministry, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, and entities designated under section 22.5 of the Act with respect to occupational health and safety;
• Common workplace hazards;
• The requirements set out in Regulation 860, or the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System, with respect to information and instruction on controlled products; and
• Occupational illness, including latency.

It is worth noting that in order to help employers meet any and all new health and safety standards, the Ministry of Labor has created a training program which comes at no cost. It is also available in multiple formats and languages.

If employers already offer training and awareness programs that exceed or meet the new Ministry of Labor training requirements, an equivalency checklist will be released by the Ministry of Labor to help employers gauge if their current program meets the newest requirements.

In October 2014, three new unpaid leaves were added to the Employment Standards Act.

These leaves included:

Family Caregiver Leave:

• Provides up to 8 weeks unpaid leave each year to care for certain family members with a “serious medical condition” (not defined)

Crime-Related Child Death and Disappearance Leave:

• This leave can be taken over an extended time period, and is not required to take full weeks off.

What does this mean for the employer?

As of October 2014, McLeod noted that most employees working for small businesses in Ontario will be entitled to take up to 8 leaves of absence; including:

• Pregnancy leave
• Parental leave
• Family medical leave
• Organ donor leave
• Reservist leave
• Family Caregiver leave
• Critically Ill Caregiver leave
• Crime-Related Child Death and Disappearance leave

This could potentially result in scheduling and staffing challenges for employers, especially smaller employers. This includes difficulty replacing employees on pregnancy and parental leaves, as well as the new Family Caregiver and Critically Ill Caregiver leaves.

Bill 18 Received Royal Assent in November

Bill 18, the Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, a series of new employer laws, received a third reading at the Ontario Legislature.

What does this mean for the employer?

These are 5 of the changes which would likely impact many employers, particularly those in the restaurant business:

1. The minimum wage will increase each year in an amount equal to the rate of inflation from the previous calendar year.
2. There won’t be limitations on the amount of money an Employment Standards Officer can order an employer to pay an employee under the Employment Standards Act, which could result in more employees filing claims for termination pay and severance pay under the ESA, rather than through wrongful dismissal actions.
3. The time limit for filing a complaint under the ESA was increased from 6 months to 2 years, resulting in more claims being filed against employers.
4. Any employers using temporary help agencies will be responsible for paying the temporary workers directly in the case that the agency fails to do so.
5. Under the Occupational Health & Safety Act, co-op students, interns and volunteers will be recognized as “workers”. This means that an employer must begin to provide mandatory health and safety training to these individuals. A failure to take precautionary measures pertaining to the protection of these workers could result in fines of up to $500,000.

 Are you concerned that these changes may impact your workplace, or need integrated and customized approaches to your HR and workforce management?