The calendar has now changed over to 2015, and with the New Year comes an interesting legal situation for certain employers. Most employees in Canada are paid biweekly. However, years do not divide perfectly into biweekly segments. Once every 13 years, an employee paid on a biweekly basis will receive 27 paycheques, rather than 26 (an “extra paycheque year”).
Stringer LLP
Nous avons depuis quelque temps été témoins d’interventions plus musclées de la part des autorités fiscales à l’encontre des travailleurs (ou leurs sociétés) qui contractent avec des agences de placement de personnel aux fins de la prestation de services à leurs entreprises-clientes. L’impact de la récente décision de la Cour d’appel du Québec (17 juillet 2014) relativement à l’agence Océanica , bien que visant le secteur des infirmiers, se fera sentir dans tous les secteurs.
Occasional Contributors
The NEXUS program is a joint initiative of United States Customs and Border Protection and the Canada Border Services Agency, which enables pre-approved, low-risk travellers to receive expedited entry when travelling to the United States or Canada. Unfortunately, not everyone will be in a position to satisfy the NEXUS eligibility criteria.
Henry J. Chang, Dentons LLP
Human resources experts agree that employees appreciate knowing your expectations about how they should dress for work-if they exist. However, some managers and employers disagree with dress codes. One of our subscribers wondered what our readers think, so in a recent HRinfodesk poll, we asked, Do you agree that workplaces should have a dress code?
Ted Kenney
Objecting to the validity of a Workers’ Compensation (WSIB) claim or to a decision made by the Board is an important part of effective claims management. Not doing this level of due diligence can be extremely costly for your organization.
Clear Path Employer Services
A very sad story was recently published in the Globe and Mail about a 15-year-old boy who was working at a gravel-crushing site in Alberta, when he became entangled in a conveyor belt and was killed. It leaves one wondering whether the age of 15 is an appropriate age for young persons to be working in the construction industry.
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
Constructive or adverse discrimination in employment occurs when rules or standards are established that do not discriminate at first glance, but have an adverse effect on persons whose rights are protected under human rights legislation. In such a case, the burden shifts to the employer to establish that such rules or standards are essential to the job, also known as bona fide occupational requirements (BFOR’s. British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU is the leading case which addresses this issue. This seminal human rights case from the Supreme Court of Canada established a three-part test which has become the standard to evaluate constructive discrimination.
Kevin Sambrano, Sambrano Legal Services
An Ontario labour arbitrator upheld an employee’s termination for just cause after the employer learned that the employee faked the severity of her injury and ability to perform work for over five years. The arbitrator found that the employer was justified in terminating the employee for just cause because the actions of the employee went to the heart of the employment relationship.
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD