Month: July 2022

ESA Guidance Now Contains Chapter On Electronic Monitoring Policies

Posted onAuthorDave Patriarche

If you’re an employer with over 25 employees, you’ll want to read this short article as you need a written policy in place by October 2022.

If you’re a Mainstay client, we have provided HR resources that include a sample policy you can adopt to your firm.  If you’re not signed up yet, reach out and I’ll give you the code to access the info, which includes complete employee handbook, policy samples and templates.

In the spring, Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022, received Royal Assent and became law. Among other things, Bill 88 amended Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to require certain employers to ensure, within a specific time frame, that they have a written policy in place for all employees with respect to electronic monitoring of employees (Policy).

On July 13, 2022, in its Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, the Government of Ontario published employer guidance for complying with the Policy. In this Insight, we provide a summary of that guidance in Q & A format.

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Ontario Extends COVID-19 Paid Infectious Disease Emergency Leave Yet Again

Posted onAuthorDave Patriarche

The Ontario government has extended the IDEL to march 31, 2023.

The post from e2r below provides more information.

If you thought COVID-19 was over, think again.

 
The Ontario government has just announced that it will be extending the Worker Income Protection Benefit program yet again until March 31, 2023. Set to expire on July 31st, 2022, this extension means that employers will still be required to provide three paid infectious disease emergency leave days to employees affected by COVID-19.
 
As a reminder, employees can take the three paid days for reasons such as:
  • going for a COVID-19 test
  • staying home awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test
  • being sick with COVID-19
  • going to get vaccinated
  • experiencing a side effect from a COVID-19 vaccination
  • having been advised to self-isolate due to COVID-19 by an employer, medical practitioner or other authority
  • taking care of a dependent who is:
o   sick with COVID-19 or has symptoms of COVID-19
o   self-isolating due to COVID-19
 
As set out in our last alert regarding this topic here – if an employee has already used up their 3 days, they are no longer entitled to any additional paid days (unless, of course, you already have a sick day policy in place that provides for additional days).
 
Employers must pay the employee their normal rate of pay for the day off, up to $200, and will have up to 120 days to make a claim for reimbursement. Information on employer reimbursement of these days can be found in our previous alert here.

Cross-Border: A Guide To Doing Business In Canada – Key Topics And Developments

Posted onAuthorDave Patriarche

The majority of our clients are Canadian companies based in Ontario.  Some have employees in other provinces and occasionally in the US or abroad.  In other cases, the head office is in the US or Europe, and they have smaller offices located here, in Canada, that often represent a small portion of their employees.

For the cases of US employers with Canadian employees, I occasionally provide articles of interest in understanding how our systems are different when it comes to benefits, HR and employment law.  this article references a great 48 page book you can obtain (or download).

On June 28, 2022 the McCarthy Tetrault’s Labour and Employment Group, along with leading partners from other practice areas in the Firm, hosted an insightful webinar on key cross-border topics and trends for business. The webinar coincided with the launch of our Cross-Border – Navigating Canadian Employment Law Guidebook.. The following are some highlights from the panelists:.

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