Category: COVID-19 Blog

Can a COVID-19 layoff constitute constructive dismissal? Sophia Abbatt considers the OCA’s decision in Hanley Hospitality, the current state of the law, and what it all means for workers.

Erin Sobat’s new article in the Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal examines Ontario’s current workplace harassment laws, and argues that simply requiring employer harassment policies and internal investigations will not stop harassment in workplaces where protection is needed most.

Vaccine mandates in workplaces raise a lot of questions for employees. Medical information is given one of the highest levels of protection in the workplace. An employer can’t ask for an employee’s private health information without a good reason. But as Benjamin Piper discusses, this doesn’t mean that an
employer can never ask for health information.

Dan Sheppard’s memo on the emergency powers used to respond to COVID-19 has been updated to June 10, 2021.

In this webinar, Simran Prihar, Ryan Newell, and Gabe Hoogers reviewed the latest workplace law cases involving COVID-19.

In a recent win for healthcare workers, a labour arbitrator determined that she had jurisdiction to hear a grievance regarding the exclusion of nurse externs from the bargaining unit. A hospital could not rely on a COVID-19 emergency powers regulation to prevent the hearing from going forward.

After months of pressure, Ontario has enacted a new (limited) form of paid sick leave tied to COVID-19. Who qualifies? How do you access it? This post tells you everything you need to know about Ontario’s new paid sick leave.

If public servants witness a wrongdoing in the public service, they have options. Gabe Hoogers examines how the law aims to protect whistleblowers.

With more and more grandparents getting vaccinated, new options may be available for child care as grandparents begin to feel safer about helping out. But the stay-at-home rules continue to ban indoor social gatherings. Kelly Doctor explains how child care fits into the current rules.

Now that our homes have become our offices, many employees have questions about claiming home office expenses on their tax returns. Melanie Anderson tells you what you need to know to claim work-related expenses.