Labour & Employment
-
June 28, 2024
Designing the impossible: A perfect Request to Admit Rule
The recent decision in Khan v. Law Society of Ontario, [2024] O.J. No. 276 has sparked renewed interest by regulators of professions in whether the “request to admit” process can have the effect of streamlining discipline hearings. The Divisional Court upheld a discipline finding based, in large part, on deemed admissions by the lawyer facing discipline who had refused to make admission on the facts contained in a 484-paragraph request to admit that included 310 documents. The discipline hearing panel ruled the facts in the request to admit were deemed to be admitted because the lawyer had failed to properly engage with the process. In essence, the lawyer had responded with a blanket denial (based on legal arguments) without responding specifically to the assertions of fact or the authenticity of the individual documents.
-
June 28, 2024
Ontario Updates: New Fines for ESA contraventions, Working for Workers Five Act proposed
On May 6, 2024, the Ontario Government introduced Bill 190, the Working for Workers Five Act, 2024, which, if passed, will provide new protections for workers, the key details of which are summarized below. On May 16, 2024, Bill 190 was carried on second reading and was referred to the Ontario Government’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. The Ontario Government has also filed Ontario Regulation 189/24, amending Ontario Regulation 289/01 (Penalties and Reciprocal Enforcement) under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), which increases fines for multiple contraventions of the ESA, as detailed below.
-
June 27, 2024
Canada sanctions ‘extremist settler violence’ against Palestinians
Canada has imposed sanctions on seven Israelis and five entities in Israel “in response to the grave breach of international peace and security posed by their violent and destabilizing actions against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank.”
-
June 27, 2024
CRA warns legal action to recover pandemic benefit overpayments will begin in July
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is warning that it will begin taking legal action in July against individuals who have not co-operated in returning overpayments from COVID-19 benefit programs, including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
-
June 26, 2024
Canada issues $2.1M in penalties, 12 bans for temporary foreign worker program violations
Businesses found to be violating the rules of the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program were issued $2.1 million in penalties in fiscal year 2023-2024, with 12 such employers being banned from the program, according to a release by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
-
June 26, 2024
Competence-competence doctrine | Esther Carenza
The Competence-Competence doctrine is seen in international commercial contracts governed under the International Commercial Arbitration Act S.O., 2017 c 2 Sch 5., which is now cemented in a Canadian contract.
-
June 26, 2024
Importance of social media governance in age of AI | Connie L. Braun and Juliana Saxberg
We are in an era where tweets and other social media messaging very quickly shape public opinion. Hashtags spark movements, campaigns and protests.
-
June 25, 2024
Canada sanctions Hamas ‘financiers’ in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel
Declaring “we stand with the Israeli people and call for the immediate release of all hostages,” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced dealings and entry bans of nine “financiers” of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and two Hamas-affiliated financial exchange companies, “effective immediately.”
-
June 25, 2024
Ongoing compliance under ‘modern slavery act,’ implications for junior issuers
Canada’s new modern slavery act, Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act (the Act), came into force on Jan. 1, 2024, and it was enacted to combat forced labour and child labour by requiring certain government institutions and private entities to disclose their efforts to address these issues within their operations and supply chains. While the initial reporting deadline under the Act has passed as of May 31, 2024, businesses must stay attentive to the evolving nature of the Act and stay proactive in meeting ongoing compliance requirements.
-
June 24, 2024
British Columbia first province to launch class action targeting makers of ‘forever chemicals’
The government of British Columbia has launched what it is hailing as the first class action lawsuit by a Canadian province against manufacturers of so-called forever chemicals, alleging they knew the products would contaminate the environment indefinitely and jeopardize human health.