Year: 2022

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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Ontario, Canada: Requirements for Mandatory Policies, Training and Postings

Posted onAuthorDave Patriarche

If you have Ontario employees, please read this article for the required postings each office must have.  The link provides a list of all you need to know as well as; posters, sources for documents etc. in order to stay in compliance.

Employers subject to provincial legislation (i.e., not federal employers) that have employees in Ontario often ask about legislative requirements under various employment statutes, including mandatory policies, training, postings, and information sheets under the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, the Pay Equity Act, the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017, the Working for Workers Act, 2021, and the Working for Workers Act, 2022. To make this information conveniently available, the Littler Toronto office assembled these requirements in a single publication. 

We have prepared an update to this publication dated June 20, 2022 (11th edition), which includes new information about the policy on disconnecting from work and information on the new policy on electronic monitoring of employees, which are mandatory for most employers. This edition of the publication also reflects the elimination of COVID-19 restrictions, with the exception of a masking requirement in long-term care and retirement homes.  Click here to read the June 2022 update.

Ontario Government Passes The Working For Workers Act, 2022 With Important Changes For Employers

Posted onAuthorDave Patriarche

A quick to read article on changes affecting Ontario employers.

On Monday, April 11, 2022 Bill 88, the Working for Workers Act, 2022 (the “Act“) received Royal Assent and came into force. The Act is intended to be a part of the Ontario governments continued response to the recommendations contained in a report from the Ontario Workforce Advisory Committee. Previously the government passed Bill 27, Working for Workers Act, 2021 which requires employers with 25 or more employees to implement a right to disconnect policy by June 2, 2022. This Act, like its predecessor, makes several notable changes to the workplace through the creation and modification of legislation.

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ONTARIO: Time off Work for Employees on Election Day

Posted onAuthorDave Patriarche

Just a quick reminder…(compliments of e2r hr)

With the Ontario Provincial Election just around the corner, now is a good time to start thinking about your obligations as an employer to provide your employees with time off work to vote.

 
Eligible voters who are 18 years of age or older and registered to vote are entitled to three consecutive hours off work during the time that their polling stations are open. If an employee’s work schedule does not facilitate this requirement, an employer must grant them time off work to vote. Any time off work given to an employee for the purpose of voting must be paid.
 
For example, if an employee’s polling station is open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and they are scheduled to work from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., the employee would have three consecutive hours after work to vote – no time off required. However, if their schedule is 11:00 to 8:00 p.m. there is no three-hour window to vote and the employer would need to adjust the schedule to provide three consecutive hours to vote (in this instance the employee could leave at 6:00 p.m.) The employer would not be permitted to deduct any wages from an employee’s pay for taking this time off work to vote.
 
The employer may decide which three consecutive hours to grant, if required to do so. Please note there are significant penalties for failing to comply.

Drug plan spending increased 4.3% in 2021

Posted onAuthorDave Patriarche

Clients and prospects often consult with us to learn where benefit costs are going from year to year.  We publish average increase on our website HERE and include the highs and lows in our April newsletter each year also available on our site HERE. 

It has been certainly tougher to predict, during the past 2 years, with COVID changing treatment habits (dental and parameds especially) and the higher than average increases in both use and charges we’ve seen in some sectors.  Dental has seen a 4.75% increase in the ODS fee guide and when trend and utilization is added to that inflation, we are seeing costs rise about 6%.  This report below is indicating that drug costs are not that high, which coincides with what we’ve seen of about 5% a year over the past 10 years or so.

While the overall private drug plan spend per member increased by 4.3 per cent in 2021, fewer plan members submitted claims and the per-claimant cost grew, according to Express Scripts Canada’s latest prescription drug trends report.

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