The Ontario Government has proposed significant legislative changes that may impact how accident investigations and enforcement actions unfold, and regulatory orders and prosecutions may become more perilous for employers and senior executives as a result.

In this session, presented on March 28, 2022, Toronto Health and Safety lawyers Ryan Conlin and Jeremy Schwartz of Stringer LLP discuss:

• Proposed changes to the maximum fines for individuals and corporate officers and directors
• A potential doubling of the limitations period for commencing prosecutions
• The new sentencing factors Courts would be obliged to consider
• Critical strategies for modernizing Director and Officer due diligence
• What steps management should take now and following an accident in anticipation of these likely amendments

The Omicron wave appears to be receding and there is cautious optimism that the worst of the pandemic is behind us.  This forward looking Webinar, presented on March 4, 2022, will addressed the key legal issues facing employers as they prepare for what everyone hopes will be a post-pandemic world.

The Webinar covered:

• The future of mandatory vaccination policies
• The future of COVID related safety precautions and rules in the workplace
• Constructive Dismissal: How the Courts are handling employees laid off for COVID reasons
• Returning to the Office: Has COVID altered the employment contract?
• COVID and the Human Rights Code:  Can employees rely on the Code to work from home?

Seasons greetings from all of us at Stringer LLP. Best wishes to you and your family for a safe and prosperous 2022.

Vaccine mandates have been legally and politically controversial in Canada and around the world.  We are starting to see the first decisions from labour arbitrators and Courts on the rights of employers to impose vaccine mandates and require mandatory testing.  This presentation from an expert in labour law and an expert in OHS law, will review the latest legal developments on this evolving area.

• Clear as mud: What we can take from the different outcomes in two recent labour arbitration awards
• The latest from the Courts on injunction proceedings related to vaccines
• Does the Joint Health and Safety Committee have a role in vaccine mandates?
• Think Local: How do the recommendations of public health authorities impact an employer’s obligations
• What about mandatory testing?
• Way down South: The American experience with vaccine mandates
• Peering into our crystal ball: What we think will happen going forward with vaccine mandates

The Webinar discussed:

• The legal status of mandatory vaccinations and the general duty clause under the OHSA
• Is a recommendation from a local Chief Medical Officer legally binding?
• What qualifies as a disability under human rights law?
• How do the professional obligations of physicians impact the ability of employees to get medical notes?
• What qualifies as a religious exemption under human rights law?
• Is there a way to distinguish between religious and political beliefs?
• Is regular mandatory testing an alternative?
• Can employees refuse to work with non-vaccinated colleagues?

Even as the world grapples with variants and what appears to be the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are looking to transition back to a semblance of normal. With government, at all levels, providing inconsistent messaging and no legislative response, employers must carefully consider the best policies and practices going forward.

In the session held on August 24, 2021, lawyers from Stringer LLP discussed:

• Whether employers can mandate employees to get vaccinated and/or tested and whether the “Delta” variant is a gamechanger

• The impact of the recent announcements from private and public sector employers mandating vaccinations

• How the unions have reacted to vaccination and testing issues

• How to address work refusals for COVID-related concerns

• Recall and reintegration of employees who were laid off or placed on statutory COVID leaves of absence

• Addressing COVID-related accommodation requests, including from so-called, “long-haulers”

COVID-19 has caused unprecedented disruption in the economies all over the world. Employers who have had to lay off or terminate employees are facing ever-increasing demands for larger settlements from lawyers representing employees. This Webinar explores the related employment law challenges, and the exposure employers are facing during this transition phase and once the virus is finally behind us.

On February 26, 2021, Ryan Conlin and Jeremy Schwartz discussed:

• The latest on Infectious Disease Emergency Leave layoffs and terminations
• Will Courts accept the demand from Plaintiffs that notice periods be increased due to COVID?
• The latest from the Courts on notice periods for short service and older employees
• The new challenges for enforcing ESA minimum employment contracts
• What the Supreme Court says about good faith in employment contracts

In 2020, employers were faced with unprecedented legal challenges brought on by the pandemic. Meanwhile, the courts and tribunals issued landmark decisions that will have a significant continuing impact on employers well after the pandemic is over. Attend this session to learn the highlights of some of the most significant legal developments of 2020 affecting employers and receive practical tips on how to respond. The topics presented on January 15 included:

• "ESA-only" termination clauses in employment contracts – do they still work?
• Special employment standards rules on layoffs caused by the pandemic and what to expect when the pandemic ends
• COVID-related health and safety appeals
• The latest word from the Supreme Court of Canada on the duty of good faith performance in contracts and its impact on employers
• Workers' compensation changes and COVID relief

We wish you and yours a joyous holiday season, and a safe, healthy, and prosperous new year from all of us at Stringer LLP.

In lieu of sending out greeting cards, we've made donations to Dixon Hall Neighbourhood Services, Save the Children Canada, and Yonge Street Mission.

Thanks for your continued business and support.

Employers have made their plans; they've hunkered down; and they've sheltered in place. As we traverse the long and winding road back, novel challenges will call for novel approaches. In the session held on December 11, 2020, Ryan Conlin and Jeremy Schwartz discussed:

- Workplace privacy considerations arising from medical leave and accommodation requests

- Whether employers can mandate employees to get vaccinated

- How to address work refusals for COVID-related concerns

- 'Low hanging fruit' of available contract and policy updates as we transition

On September 4, 2020, Ryan and Jeremy discussed the legal tightrope in terms of employee attendance management, that employers must walk in this pandemic. The issues of elder care and constantly shifting school schedules has exacerbated the challenge that employers face.

The Webinar covered:

- The rights of employees to “work at home” due to child care needs created by students learning at home. Does it matter if a parent chooses not to send a student back to school?

- Does an employee have a blanket right to refuse to return to work due to living with a potentially vulnerable person?

- What happens if the job can’t be performed from home?

- Preventing reprisal claims: How to handle performance issues with an employee who is raising concerns about human rights issues

- What happens if an employer breaches the Human Rights Code? Can an employer be ordered to allow an employee to work at home?

Perhaps now more than ever before, the lawyers at Stringer LLP have been deeply engaged, supporting clients who face significant, even existential challenges.  The pandemic has not only produced its own share of HR issues, but it has exposed the spackled-over cracks in many fundamental legal principles and legislation.  As the Canadian economy transitions open and fear of a potential second wave looms, now is the perfect time to assess where we are, what’s worked for employers and what hasn’t, and to chart a course forward.

On July 30, 2020, this webinar addressed:

• Lessons drawn from family status and medical leave accommodation issues
• Experience to date with subsidies and similar government programs, and preparing to meet the challenges which re-emerge when programs end
• Considerations for implementing temporary and permanent changes while avoiding dismissal claims
• Practical issues and responses for implementing the various government safety guidelines
• Recent experience with health and safety precautions and work refusals

In this webinar, Ryan Conlin and Landon Young provided guidance for employers on how to respond to the legal challenges created by the reopening process.

The Webinar addressed addressed:

• An overview of the government safety guidelines and what they mean legally
• How to assess whether a precaution is “reasonable”
• How to deal with work refusals and avoid reprisal claims
• Family status and medical leave accommodation issues
• How to respond to constructive dismissal claims Temperature checks and other thorny privacy issues

Canadian employers have been confronted with a veritable ocean of new government programs, which are designed to help weather the Corona virus storm.  However, the tides keep shifting and the government has provided little guidance on how these programs interact with each other. There is considerable confusion in the business community about how to access the badly needed relief.

The lawyers of Stringer LLP have been in the trenches assisting our clients with accessing these constantly evolving programs, and to manage change and reductions while steering clear of the rocks.  If you haven't done so already, bookmark our COVID-19 Resources tab, where we have been providing regular updates and helpful links.

[Note: Video feed corrects at 15:15]

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.  Not since H1N1 and SARS before that, have employers faced such a fundamental challenge.  It is not too late to put plans and policies in place to manage the impact on your organization.

This session will discuss:

• How employment standards, health and safety, human rights and other regulatory requirements apply to a pandemic;
• Strategies for managing attendance and remote work;
• "Essential services" and work refusals under occupational health and safety legislation;
• WSIB's recently released guideance on COVID-19;
• Managing the risk of constructive dismissal when implementing alterations to schedules and compensation, as well as implementing temporary layoffs;
• How to use Work Share and Supplementary Unemployment Benefit Plans to support employees and avoid claims of constructive dismissal; and
• Practical guidance for creating a pandemic response plan, amending policies as necessary, and communicating effectively with employees.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board (the "Board") has issued a landmark decision which clears the path for Foodora couriers to unionize. The decision represents the first substantial application of decades of Board jurisprudence to the 'Gig Economy'. Lessons may be drawn from the decision for all businesses - app-based and brick-and-mortar.

On Feburary 28, 2020, Jeremy Schwartz and Ryan Conlin discussed:

• Who has the right to unionize under the law?

• Development of the intermediate category of "dependent contractor" and how the Board has treated earlier cases

• The Foodora decision and why it came down to many traditional factors with an app-based-twist

• Impact of employment status findings in other human resources law areas, such as workers' compensation, employment standards and even immigration, in Ontario and in other jurisdictions

• Practical advice for all businesses with "independent contractor" models

During this edition of Stringer LLP's complimentary Quarterly HR-Law Webinar series, broadcast on Monday, January 20, 2020, Ryan Conlin, Jeremy Schwartz and Erika Montisano discussed the following HR-Law topics:

• Does the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) bar lawsuits against employers for employment related stress?
• Are bonuses and stock options included in the calculation of reasonable notice of termination?
• Employers' right to enforce agreed-upon hours of work.
• When can an occupational health and safety charge be dismissed for delay?

Happy Holidays from all of us at Stringer LLP.

In lieu of sending greeting cards, we've made donations to Dixon Hall Neighbourhood Services, Save the Children Canada, and Yonge Street Mission.

The legalization of marijuana for recreational use will have a profound impact on workplaces across the country.  This Webinar examines the legal challenges that Canadian organizations will face in responding to this new reality.

"A Lawyer's Perspective on Pot in the Workplace" - Ryan Conlin speaks to CBC Radio on Here and Now Toronto 

Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year, from all of us at Stringer LLP.

Frank discusses how to best ensure you may rely on disciplinary records to prove just cause

Amanda discusses the law on bonus eligibility during the reasonable notice period

Frank discusses a recent landmark decision from the Supreme Court regarding a new test for stays of prosecutions for unconstitutional delay

Allison discusses the difference between a valid and invalid resignation

Jeff Murray discusses social host liability for employers.

Frank Portman discusses occupational health and safety regulations, as applicable to employer social events.

Jeremy Schwartz discusses how to avoid and address workplace sexual harassment.

Allison Taylor discusses progressive discipline and termination for employee misconduct.

Amanda Boyce discusses accommodation obligations for non-Christian observers.

Landon Young discusses how to avoid the fixed term contract trap.

Frank Portman discusses a recent case in which the Ontario Court of Appeal reversed a trial decision and substituted a finding of just cause.

Jeremy Schwartz discusses a recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision that upheld a landmark retroactive loss of earnings award from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Jeff Murray discusses a recent Alberta Court of Queens Bench decision that overturned an arbitration panel's finding that Suncor's random drug and alcohol testing policy was unenforceable.

Frank Portman discusses a recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision which greatly increased the scope of general and other damages awarded in a wrongful dismissal action.

Health and safety lawyers Ryan Conlin and Frank Portman will dissect the various proceedings which have flowed from the Metron saga.  Five different prosecutions, against five very different individuals and corporations, have now concluded, and have resulted in a significant ripple effect through health and safety law.

Happy holidays from your team at Stringer LLP.

Ryan Conlin discusses significant planned changes to Ontario's workers' compensation experience rating system.

Jessica Young discusses a recent record setting human rights damages award.

Jeff Murray discussed recent labour arbitration decisions pertaining to employee vices.

Landon Young discusses recent case law on the enforceability of ESA termination provisions.

Frank Portman discusses the implications of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision that the right to strike is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Jessica Young explains the inherent risks associated with "encouraging" employees to retire.

Jeremy Schwartz compares the results of two termination grievances arising out of racist and misogynistic tweets.

Allison Taylor explains the unfavourable result of a recent judicial review decision in Alberta concerning family status discrimination.

Landon Young provides draws on recent, wrongful dismissal caselaw to provide guidance to employers considering whether to terminate an employee for just cause.

Ryan Conlin summarizes and comments upon the significant amendments Bill 18 has effected to Ontario's Employment Standards Act, Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, and Labour Relations Act

Jessica Young discusses the new protected leaves of absence under Ontario's Employment Standards Act

Jeremy Schwartz discusses the disturbing trend of employees forum shopping in human rights matters, and a recent HRTO decision which may signal an end to the slide down a slippery slope

Frank Portman explains two recent, landmark decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada, which may significantly restrain governments from crafting labour legislation not strictly following the "Wagner" model.

Best wishes for a safe and prosperous New Year, from all of us at Stringer LLP.

Ryan Conlin discusses recent changes to the WSIB return to work

Jeff Murray discusses a recent landmark contract decision from the Supreme Court of Canada

Frank Portman discusses a recent, significant decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario concerning remedies and mental illness in the workplace.

Jessica Young discusses recent enforcement activities under the new Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

Jeff Murray discusses the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision concerning the closure of a Wal-Mart store after it unionized.

Frank Portman discusses a recent, watershed decision by Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal concerning the constitutionality of restrictions on benefit claims for mental stress disabilities.

Jeremy Schwartz discusses the recent certification of a class action against an employer, for the alleged privacy breaches committed by its employee.

Allison Taylor discusses the recent Federal Court of Appeal decision which outlined a new, balanced test for family status discrimination claims.

Ryan Conlin and Frank Portman discuss the disturbing trend of increasingly large general damages awards in human rights litigation.

Ryan Conlin and Jeremy Schwartz discuss a landmark WSIAT decision which held sections of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act unconstitutional, the potential fallout and strategies for managing workplace stress claims (and possibly certain wrongful dismissal claims) going forward.

Ryan Conlin of Stringer LLP discusses recent jurisprudence concerning random drug and alcohol testing in Canada (post-Irving).

Jessica Young of Stringer LLP discusses changes to Ontario's Building Code arising out of AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act)

Frank Portman of Stringer LLP discusses the perils of using interns

Landon Young discusses a recent wrongful dismissal class action lawsuit and the potential impact on employment litigation

Ryan Conlin and Jeremy Schwartz discuss Bill 146 and the potential impact on employers.

Ryan Conlin discusses the potentially watershed decision in R. v. Roofing Medics, in which the court commented that more personal defendants in health and safety prosecutions should face jail sentences.

Allison Taylor discusses recent decisions from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario suggesting a disturbing trend in that tribunal permitting cases to proceed which had already been litigated in a workers' compensation forum

Jeremy Schwartz discusses recent punitive damages awards in Ontario

Vivianne Ponce discusses new OHS awareness training requirements in Ontario

This is segment 5 of 5 from our Q3 webinar held on Thursday, October 10, "Risks Associated with Reducing Post-Retirement Benefits"

This is segment 4 of 5 from our Q3 webinar held on Thursday, October 10, "Implications of the Ontario Court of Appeal Sentencing Decision in Metron Construction"

This is segment 3 of 5 from our Q3 webinar held on Thursday, October 10, "Breach of Confidentiality Clauses in Settlements"

This is segment 2 of 5 from our Q3 webinar held on Thursday, October 10, "Recent Developments in Summary Judgement Motions"

This is segment 1 of 5 from our Q3 webinar held on Thursday, October 10, "Upcoming AODA Obligations – What You Need to Know for January 1, 2014"