Canada

The Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity in Quebec has tabled new legislation with respect to maintaining employee records. The amendments would require employers in Quebec to maintain a registration system that contains information about any individuals who come from a personnel agency. Currently, employers are only required to maintain a registry for employees, […]

An investigation report created by a lawyer retained to conduct a workplace investigation may not be protected by solicitor-client privilege. A labour arbitrator in Ontario recently found that an investigation report prepared by a lawyer was not privileged and ordered an employer to produce the report to the union. Protections can be put in place […]

A federal election is taking place in Canada. Election Day is October 19, 2015. We may see changes to federal legislation and policy if a new party is elected.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and its provincial counterparts in Alberta and British Columbia recently released a joint guidance document with respect to Bring Your Own Device policies. The document suggests that companies should conduct a privacy impact assessment and a threat risk assessment before any such policy is implemented. Among other […]

The minimum wage in Alberta will be increased to $11.20 per hour as of October 1, 2015. This is the first step towards achieving a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour by 2018. The minimum wage in Ontario will be increased to $11.25 per hour as of October 1, 2015. This reflects the first increase […]

The Government of Prince Edward Island has requested feedback to its proposal of adding two new leaves to its Employment Standards Act. The proposed leaves include: (1) Critically Ill Child Care Leave; and (2) Crime-related Child Death or Disappearance Leave. The proposed leaves are similar to those available in other provinces and federally.

The Workers Compensation Act in British Columbia has been amended to reflect recommendations accepted by the Government earlier in the year. While the events that trigger an investigation have not changed, the changes impose timelines for producing and submitting investigation reports. The Workers Compensation Act now requires employers to produce a preliminary report within 48 […]

The Government of Ontario has released additional details about the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (the “ORPP”), which is being introduced to assist individuals with retirement savings. The ORPP will not apply to individuals that currently receive a “comparable workplace pension plan”. The Government has defined what will be considered a comparable plan. The ORPP will […]

A recent decision of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal concluded that it was not discriminatory for an employer to enforce a “zero tolerance” drug policy by requiring an employee to stop smoking marijuana even though the employee claimed he was using the marijuana medicinally. The Tribunal found that because the employee was not legally […]

The Supreme Court of Canada recently considered, for the first time, whether discrimination could arise out of a decision of a foreign authority. In that case, a Canadian company refused to provide training to an individual on the basis of a decision by U.S. authorities; however, it was argued that the U.S. authorities’ decision was […]