Resources: Employment
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Drafting Employment Contracts: Avoiding Surprise and Liability
February 2015
If drafted properly, employment agreements can go a long way towards mitigating potential employer liability upon termination. However, if contracts are drafted poorly, or not drafted at all, employers may be left with nothing more than a false sense of security.
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Being Clear about Contractual Rights and Obligations Benefits Employers
October 2015
A recent case out of Ontario demonstrates the importance of incorporating precise, unequivocal terms in an employment contract. In Kielb v. National Money Mart Co., 2015 ONSC 3790, the defendant employer successfully relied on clear contractual language in order to exclude the payment of a bonus at the time of termination of employment.
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“Physical Disability” Defined – A Critical Threshold Question
January 2015
Human rights statutes across Canada prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of, among other things, “physical disability”. Sometimes it is clear that an employee is physically disabled, and entitled to statutory protection. However, there are other times when it is unclear if an employee’s medical circumstances fit the definition.
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Establishing Undue Hardship Is Possible: Wilcox v. University of British Columbia and others, 2014 BCHRT 228
December 2014
A recent decision of the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, Wilcox v. University of British Columbia and others, 2014 BCHRT 228, demonstrates that undue hardship is not an impossible threshold to meet, even for a large and diverse employer such as a university.
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Expensive Secret Telling: When Damages May Be Available for Breach of a Confidentiality Clause in a Settlement Agreement
November 2014
Employers often enter into settlements in order to avoid litigation. Sometimes, the confidentiality of the settlement is crucially important to the employer. While simple confidentiality clauses are often included in settlement terms and coupled with enforcement mechanisms (what happens if a breach occurs), it is uncommon to see cases that address..
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Non-Competition Provision Results in Increased Notice Period
November 2014
In the recent case of Ostrow v. Abacus Management Corporation Mergers and Acquisitions, 2014 BCSC 938, the B.C. Supreme Court followed an approach taken in a small handful of cases (predominantly out of Ontario but including an appellate case out of B.C.) and confirmed….
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Disabled Employee Entitled to Equal Treatment, Not Better Treatment
October 2014
A recent case from the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal addressed the protections afforded to an employee who could no longer work at a full-time level on account of her disability. In particular, the issues of guaranteed hours of work and the right to full-time benefits were canvassed.
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