Due Diligence 2022, The 17th Annual Scorecard
While the paramount objective is to prevent OHS violations and injuries, nobody expects you to be perfect. Stuff happens. Your liability for the “stuff” you fail to prevent will come […]
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The 13 Most Important OHS Cases of 2022
Technically, courts and legislatures are supposed to make the laws while courts, arbitrators and tribunals (which we’ll refer to collectively as “courts”) are supposed to simply interpret it. This is […]
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Arbitrator Finds Three-Dose Mandatory Vaccination Requirement Reasonable In Long-Term Care Homes
In Regional Municipality of York v Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 905 (Long Term Care Unit), Arbitrator Stephen Raymond found that a mandatory vaccination policy (Policy) which required long-term care […]
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Arbitrator Upholds Mandatory 3-Dose Vaccination Policy
Having lost its case against the previous 2-dose mandatory COVID vaccination policy, the union challenged the new 3-dose policy that the long-term care homes operator unilaterally implemented in response to […]
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Union Loses Bid to Overturn Mandatory Vaccination Policy for Lack of Notice
Sec. 54 of the Labour Relations Code requires employers to give at least 60 days’ notice before introducing a policy “that affects the terms, conditions or security of employment” of […]
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Ontario Company Fined $125K For COVID-19 Outbreak And Fatality
In a significant first, an employer in Ontario has been prosecuted for a COVID-19 related death. On June 6, 2022, Scotlynn Sweetpac Growers Inc. ("Scotlynn") pleaded guilty and was convicted of […]
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Employee Who Refused to Mask Told by Court That Losses Were “Self-Inflicted”
Employers and employees saw the workplace change rapidly since March 2020. After a whirlwind of workforce changes and policies, litigation on the appropriateness of COVID-19 workplace measures is working its […]
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Spring Cleaning: Out With The Old COVID-19 Regulations
On April 14, 2022, the Ontario Government filed O. Reg 346/22: Revoking Various Regulations, which, effective April 27, 2022, will revoke almost all remaining COVID-19-related regulations and orders under the Reopening Ontario […]
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Key Trends In Arbitration Awards Pertaining To Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policies
Since late fall 2021, we have seen a steady flow of arbitration awards emerge in Ontario and British Columbia that consider issues relating to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies in the […]
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COVID-19 Vaccination Policies: Early Employer Successes In Round Two
A number of arbitration awards dealing with COVID-19 vaccination policies were released in late 2021 and early 2022. While most of these policies were upheld, it remained to be seen […]
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Arbitrator Decides Employer Could Terminate Employee Who Refused Government-Ordered Vaccination
On April 4, 2022, in Fraser Health Authority v British Columbia General Employees' Union, 2022 CanLII 25560, Arbitrator Koml Kandola of the British Columbia Labour Relations Board dismissed the union's grievance respecting […]
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Can You Make Unvaccinated Workers Pay for Their Own COVID Tests?
Although vaccine mandates are coming down, the litigation battle continues. There have now been about a dozen cases challenging the legality of a workplace mandatory vaccination policy, all but two […]
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If Vaccine Passports Are Dead, Should Vaccine Policies Be Too?
Over the last year, many employers have introduced mandatory COVID 19 vaccine policies into their workplaces. These policies have been heavily influenced by the COVID 19 climate in which they […]
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Part one: BC Relaxes COVID-19 Workplace Measures
British Columbia continues to take steps toward relaxing COVID-19 workplace safety requirements and returning employees to the office, in keeping with recent trends among provincial governments in Canada. On March […]
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Ontario Removing Masking Requirement On March 21 In Most Settings And Ending All COVID-19 Public Health Measures On April 27
On March 1, 2022, Ontario moved to the Roadmap Exit Step, as amended. We provided a summary of the restrictions that were eliminated on that date and those that would continue to exist. On […]
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Alberta Labour Relations Board Ices Union Complaint Against Vaccination Policy
Alberta Labour Relations Board dismisses unfair labour practice complaint against vaccination policy implemented during statutory freeze period. In Amalgamated Transit Union, Local No. 583 v Calgary (City), the Alberta Labour Relations Board […]
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Workplace Injuries In The Age Of Remote Work
A decision of the Administrative Labour Tribunal recognizing an employment injury that occurred in the course of remote work recently made headlines because of the particular nature of the circumstances […]
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Arbitrator Decides COVID-19 Pandemic Is Cataclysmic Event That Did Not Trigger Entitlement To Severance Under Layoff Provisions
In United Utility Workers' Association of Canada v Dataco Utility Services Ltd., 2022 CanLII 13414 (AB GAA), Arbitrator John Moreau, Q.C., dismissed 11 grievances filed on behalf of 11 service technicians (Grievors) […]
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It’s Not Me It’s The Landlord..
It's Not Me It's The Landlord: Third-party Vaccination Requirements May Justify The Employer's Adoption Of A Mandatory Vaccination Policy Labour, Employment & Humans Rights Law Bulletin In Bunge Hamilton Canada, Hamilton, Ontario […]
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A Cross-Canada Overview Of Covid Sick Leave Entitlements
The COVID-19 global pandemic has prompted many governments around the world to revisit employee sick leave protections. Employers in Canada, as in other parts, continue to face the unique challenge […]
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Returning To The Workplace: Employer Obligations And Options
With news of the ending of Covid-19 restrictions in some regions in Canada and the announcement of the easing of restrictions in the NWT, the real question is whether working […]
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Difficult Questions: The Impacts of Covid-19 on Precarious Employment
Date: March 30 Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM PST Speaker: Glenn French, Jennifer Mak & Guests Covid-19 has exacerbated longstanding systemic issues and injustices both within our communities and our workplaces. These […]
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COVID-19: Enforcing Mandatory Vaccination Policy Is Not an OHS Reprisal
Municipal workers placed on unpaid leave for defying the employer’s mandatory vaccination policy claimed they were the victim of OHS reprisals. Their argument: By disobeying the policy, we were looking […]
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COVID-19: Arbitrator Strikes Down Unilateral Get-Vaccinated-or-Get-Fired Policy
The union contended that the employer violated the collective agreement by unilaterally imposing and then terminating long term care home workers for refusing to comply with a mandatory vaccination policy. […]
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Fired Manager Gets Greenlight to Sue for OHS Discriminatory Action
A yard manager initiated a work refusal claiming that his farm plant co-workers weren’t social distancing or using face masks. The OHS investigator concluded that the plant was complying with […]
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Where are we now? Canadian Business Immigration and COVID-19
Date: February 16 Time: 9 AM PST Speaker: Shannon Houston Click Here to Access Recording Over the past 2 years, Canadian immigration has changed significantly; and for a period of time it was changing […]
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Workplace Vaccine Mandates Being Upheld as Challenges Largely Tossed Out
Legal challenges of employer vaccine mandates and health measures are being tossed out as arbitrators in Canada largely side with the need to maintain safe workplaces during a pandemic, legal […]
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Testing Policies at Work: Drugs, Alcohol & COVID-19
Recorded Date: February 2, 2022 Time: 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM PST Speaker: Preston Parsons Recording: To access the recording of this webinar, please go here. This session will look at the current state of […]
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It’s Time To Re-Activate Your Covid-19 Exposure Prevention Plan
During the initial COVID-19 closedown of spring 2020, implementing a workplace COVID-19 exposure prevention program was the price of reopening. When the virus went into apparent retreat, regulators called off […]
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Does Workers Comp Cover COVID-19? – Ask The Expert
QUESTION Can a worker who gets COVID-19 at the workplace get workers comp benefits? ANSWER It depends. EXPLANATION Since workers comp covers only work-related injuries and illnesses, workers would have to prove that they contracted […]
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