Employment

Migrant Workers’ rights are governed by many different Canadian laws. Immigration rules, employment standards, labour laws, occupational health and safety regulations, as well as contracts and the “common law” all affect migrant workers’ rights in Canada. Many of these vary from province to province. Others are federal or nation-wide. Unfortunately, many migrant workers don’t know

Sarah’s latest article at the Lawyer’s Daily covers a recent lawsuit by migrant workers. As Sarah explains in the piece, Maila Ceguerra, Lourdes dela Pena, Jesse Veneranda and Marisol Bobadilla have filed an Ontario small claims court action against recruitment agency Link4Staff Inc and their former employer Sharon Mushroom Farm. In addition to this civil

Big changes are coming to Ontario. In recent months, families have been hit with wave after wave of bad news from the provincial government. From cuts to autism funding for students and children, to funding cuts for education, and cuts to library services, Ontarians are being told to tighten their belts and to brace for

Earlier this week Sarah Molyneaux joined Ryerson Professor Margaret Yap and author Michael Kaufman to discuss the gender wage gap following a recent reporting by RBC that women face losses in hourly wage rates for 5 years after the birth of a child. As Sarah and her co-panelists explain, this would be bad enough- but numbers are

Unionized employees generally rely on their unions and the grievance process to address workplace discrimination and other employment issues. However, a human rights complaint is an exception to the rule that unionized employees must deal with workplace issues through their union. A unionized employee can file complaints at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO)

2019 has already brought us more than the average snow days. While this has meant frequent snow days for public school students, most working adults still had to go to work. Do employees have the right to snow days during extreme winter weather? Is there a law on Snow Days? The Employment Standards Act (or “ESA”) and Occupational

Ontario construction workers may be surprised to find that they have different rights to overtime pay, severance pay and holidays or vacation than other workers. Where does the right to overtime and severance pay come from? The Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) governs minimum employment standards for Ontario employees.  It sets the minimum wage, hours of

It’s not harassment to ask anti-union co-workers to sign a union card during a union organizing campaign according to a recent Ontario Labour Relations Board case argued by Sarah Molyneaux. Sarah represented Brian, a pro-union employee who wanted to unionize his workplace. Although Ontario employees have the legal right to unionize without employer interference, Brian found himself

Bill 66, called the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018, introduces further changes to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) and the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (the “LRA”). Like Bill 47, covered in my October blog post and passed in November, Bill 66 brings in a broad range of changes. Time will tell, but the biggest of the workplace changes to be ushered

Sexual harassment continues to occur in the modern workplace (and in schools, and in churches, and on our streets…everywhere!). In a Canadian Women’s Foundation study  43 per cent of women said that they had been sexually harassed at work. Many of these women never report their experience to a supervisor or make formal complaint, let alone file