Wednesday July 1, Canada Day, a public national holiday
Under the federal Holidays Act, Canada Day is observed on July 1. The only exception is if July 1 falls on a Sunday, it is observed the following business day, which is Monday. As it turns out, this year July 1 falls on Wednesday. Right in the middle of a work week. Creating a very weird work schedule. But no worries, after 2015, Canada Day will fall on days that will create a long weekend for the following four years.
Ted Kenney
3 minutes read
June 30, 2015 
Multiculturalism Day in Canada
Did you know that the 1st nation to adopt ‘multiculturalism’ as an official policy was Canada?
Ted Kenney
Contract or gratuitous promise: the need for consideration
Employment lawyers spend a lot of time assessing whether contracts of employment are enforceable or not. The first thing that I check, when I review a contract of employment, is the date. What I’m attempting to determine is whether the contract was signed before or after there was already a verbal agreement in place.
Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation
Superior Court applies the “Johnstone test” for family status discrimination in wrongful dismissal action
We have written before on the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal in Johnstone v Canada (Border Services), which helpfully crafted a clear and balanced test for family status discrimination in the context of childcare (the “Johnstone test”). The Ontario Superior Court has released the first reported decision in Ontario to apply the “Johnstone test” in the context of a wrongful dismissal action.
Stringer LLP
New Year’s hangover: The curious case of the 27 paycheque year
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
Les agences de placement de personnel continuent d’être dans la mire du fisc.
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
Is 15 years old too young to work construction?
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
Employee who lied about ability to work justly fired
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
A look at stock-based remuneration
Stock options are not really as complicated as one may think. In many cases, the challenge associated with the reporting of these benefits comes down to how the information is communicated to the payroll department.
Occasional Contributors