This legal case has changed how severance may be calculated if you are an Ontario Employer. Take a read to see if it affects you…
Year: 2021
Ontario Extends Deemed IDEL Yet Again
The article below will explain more about the Ontario IDEL extension.
The Ontario government has once again extended the deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”), which had been set to expire on July 3rd, 2021, and now will end on September 25, 2021.
This is good news for employers who have employees on this job-protected leave and are not prepared to bring them back in the near future but are not necessarily wanting to terminate.
This leave was first created in March 2020, retroactive to January 25, 2020, and has been set to expire and extended several times since. If the leave does end on September 25, 2021, employees on the leave will be converted to a temporary layoff.
It is also important to note the possible constructive dismissal risks associated with this leave, which we discussed in a recent Alert found here.
Ontario Employers with over 20 staff are required to do this by June 30th, 2021
Just a reminder that the AODA is coming into effect at the end of the month for Ontario employers with over 20 staff. If you’re over 50 employees there are additional requirements. The article below summarizes well so you can see what is required.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005(the “AODA”) requires Ontario businesses and non-profits with 20 or more employees to submit an accessibility compliance report every three (3) years. Beginning in 2014, accessibility compliance reports were required to be filed in 2017 and again in 2020, but as mentioned in our previous article, the deadline to file the 2020 accessibility compliance report was extended to June 30, 2021 by the Ontario government. With the deadline now fast approaching, organizations must review any accessibility areas they need to address in order to certify compliance with AODA requirements by this new deadline (to the extent they have not already done so).
Ontario Employers can now obtain their Paid Sick Day reimbursement from WSIB
If you are an Ontario employer, the WSIB site is now open to submit your claim for sick day reimbursement. Read below for more…
This is the online application for employers, allowing businesses to be reimbursed for providing paid infectious disease emergency leave in accordance with section 50.1.1 of the Employment Standard Act (ESA), 2000.
As an employer, you may be eligible to be reimbursed for payment up to a maximum of $200 per day for up to three (3) days per employee, made to an employee for paid infectious disease emergency leave taken under subsection 50.1.1(1.2) of the ESA.
https://ontario-covid19-worker-income-protection-benefit.ca/en
Attention Ontario Employers: Court confirms IDEL a Constructive Dismissal at Common Law
Just a reminder that IDEL leave will end on July 3rd. At that point, employees will be back to temporary leave and the clock will start ticking. Employers will then be faced with having to recall staff or terminate and pay severance etc. This is a fluid situation and may be further extended (it has been several times).
A recent Ontario case (Coutinho v. Ocular Health Centre Ltd.) has confirmed what most employment lawyers had suspected – placing an employee on a deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”) can constitute a constructive dismissal at common law.
Ontario COVID-19 Worker Income Protection Benefit
The province has updated their website with information on their paid leave that employers (with Ontario staff) need to know about. Read below to learn more…
Paid infectious disease emergency leave
On April 29, 2021, the Ontario Government amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to require employers to provide employees with up to three days of paid infectious disease emergency leave because of certain reasons related to covid 19. This entitlement is in addition to employees’ rights to unpaid infectious disease emergency leave.
Ontario Employer Health Tax (EHT): Canadian Tax Lawyer’s Guidance
Nothing new on this tax, but good information and a reminder of how the program works.
What is Ontario Employer Health Tax?
The Employer Health Tax is a payroll tax created by the Employer Health Tax Act in Ontario. It was originally conceived as a tax to assist with the funding of the Ontario Health Insurance Program and rolled-out over a number of years. For those businesses that pay remuneration to employees that report to work in Ontario or are paid through a business with a permanent establishment in Ontario, EHT must be calculated and remitted to the Ontario Ministry of Finance. While it is a payroll tax, unlike the CPP or EI, there is no employee paid portion; the employer bears 100% of the burden of this tax payment.
Free HR Law webinar – The New World of Work – May 27th 11 am EST
Williams HR Law is an HR and Employment Law firm that does great educational events for employers. The events are free of charge and cover topics affecting employers in these interesting times. Information on how to protect yourself and avoid pitfalls will provide you with info to make it through the New World at Work. If you’re interested, please sign up at the link below.
Organizations have seen unprecedented upheaval over the last year resulting in workplace realities and conditions that differ vastly from those prior to early 2020. Many of these changes have become part of the ‘next normal’ that business leaders and HR professionals will have to contend with in the near and distant future. With this reality in mind, we are inviting you to join us for this year’s 10th Annual Proactive Workplace Law Webinar, where our focus will be on The New World of Work.
During this 2.5-hour, interactive session, the Williams HR Law lawyers will share their insights gained through assisting hundreds of organizations during the COVID-19 era to respond to workplace-related issues and risks. We will identify what the key conditions of the New World of Work are, and examine how these new conditions have impacted when we work, where we work, how we work, and why organizations need to proactively adopt the right policies, processes and communications to successfully stabilize and thrive in our new working environment.
The session content will provide practical takeaways for business leaders, management and HR professionals to navigate workplace obligations, entitlements, issues, risks and pitfalls related to:
- o Pandemic fatigue and safety considerations
- o Conduct issues, including those related to discrimination and harassment
- o Mental health accommodation
- o Imposing vaccination requirements
- o Hours of work considerations
- o New sick days and leave requirements
- o Employment mobility
- o Layoffs, terminations and notice entitlements
- o Privacy
- o Testing requirements
- o Constructive dismissal and reprisal exposures
- o And more…
This webinar will include a Q&A segment where attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions in advance and during the live sessions.
We look forward to you joining us on May 27th at 11am EST!
Ontario’s Paid Sick Leave Program
Ontario has just announced a new 3 day sick leave policy that requires no doctors notes. The employer will pay the employee and then be reimbursed by WSIB.
The majority of our clients have supported their staff (through pay) if sick, or needing to quarantine, so this may not be applicable to many.
I’m not sure how this will work administratively, but will forward more details as we get them.
Ontario’s COVID-19 paid sick leave program to include 3 days for workers