Canadian Employment & Pension Law - Employment Law | Labour Law | Pension and Benefits Law

Sylvie Thibault -

Depuis le 1^er mai 2013, le salaire minimum a été porté à 10,15 $ l’heure.  Le taux horaire des employés à pourboire a quant à lui été majoré de 0,20 $ l'heure pour s'établir à 8,75 $.  Avec cette hausse, le taux du salaire minimum du Québec demeure parmi les plus élevés parmi les provinces canadiennes.

La ministre a également annoncé certaines modifications à la compensation des travailleurs agricoles. Pour de plus amples renseignements, consultez le site www.cnt.gouv.qc.ca.

Rappelons que le salaire minimum est régi par la Loi sur les normes du travail (la LNT ) et le Règlement sur les normes du travail.  Tout salarié visé par la LNT a droit de recevoir un salaire au moins équivalent au salaire minimum pour chaque heure travaillée, incluant les périodes « d’apprentissage », « d’initiation » ou « d’essai ».  De plus, le salaire minimum doit être entièrement payé en espèces et aucun avantage ayant une valeur pécuniaire, tel qu’un logement ou accès à un véhicule automobile, ne doit entrer dans le calcul du salaire minimum.

Kathleen Chevalier -

Ontario’s new Minister of Labour, Yasir Naqvi, recently tabled Bill 21, the Employment Standards Amendment Act (Leaves to Help Families), 2013.  If passed, Bill 21 would entitle provincially regulated Ontario employees to 3 new job-protected leaves: Family Caregiver Leave; Critically Ill Child Care Leave; and Crime-Related Child Death and Disappearance Leave.  As their names suggest, each of these leaves are intended to assist employees by protecting their job security while on leave due to family demands or crises.

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Kathleen Chavalier and William Hockin -

On June 26, 2012 the Ontario Court of Appeal released three decisions regarding whether to certify overtime class actions: BNS v. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), CIBC v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and CNR v. Canadian National Railway Company (CNR).  The Court certified CIBC and BNS, but did not certify CNR.

CIBC and BNS were inherently similar claims, in that they were “off-the-clock” overtime class actions.  The main issue was not whether the employees at issue were eligible for overtime, but whether the policy requirement that overtime would only be paid where employees obtained prior approval, is contrary to the Canada Labour Code.  Certification was granted because, among other things, in reaching a decision a trier of fact can focus on the overtime policies, and not on characteristics of individual class members.

However, the Court refused to grant certification in CNR, primarily on the basis that it was a “misclassification” case.  The main issue was whether the class members were eligible for overtime, despite the fact that CNR had designated their positions as managerial in nature, a category which is overtime exempt.  Certification was denied on the basis that the issue could only be determined with reference to each class member’s individual factors.

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Randall Boessenkool -

In Brown v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Justice Strathy of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice examined the plaintiff’s motion to certify the proceeding as a class action under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 on behalf of a class of employees of the defendants Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and CIBC World Markets Inc. (CIBCWM) (referred to collectively as CIBC).

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Patrick L. Benaroche -

Le 14 octobre 2011 dans la décision Réjeanne Rioux c. La Commission touristique du Port-Joli inc., M. Provencher, le nouveau chef cuisinier, prend Mme Rioux par la taille. La plaignante signifie son mécontentement à son supérieur en reculant et en lui jetant un regard sans équivoque. M. Provencher répète le geste au courant de la journée ainsi que dans les jours suivants. De plus, ce dernier lui  caresse parfois le dos ou la prend par le cou et il fait parfois des allusions à connotation sexuelle à la plaignante. Mme Rioux tente d’en informer la directrice, qui reporte la rencontre. Suite à divers incidents, Mme Rioux est angoissée et ressent le besoin de consulter son médecin, ce denier lui prescrit un arrêt de travail.

Malgré les plaintes de la travailleuse, la directrice générale conclut, sans enquêter, qu’il s’agit d’un malentendu. Seul M. Provencher a été interrogé et il a banalisé les évènements. La direction n’a pas cherché à vérifier le bien-fondé des propos, elle a seulement offert à Mme Rioux une rencontre en présence de M. Provencher, une offre que la plaignante a refusée. Durant son congé de maladie, elle ne donne pas de nouvelle et l’employeur ne tente pas de la rejoindre non plus. La saison suivante, il conclut qu’elle a démissionné. 

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Michèle Robichaud -

Did you know that the minimum working conditions of certain employees working in the maintenance industry of public buildings are stipulated in a law other than the Act respecting Labour Standards? In the Montreal region, these employees' minimum working conditions are set out in the Decree respecting building service employees in the Montreal region (hereinafter, the Montreal Decree). The Montreal Decree also covers the regions of the Outaouais, Laurentians/Lanaudière, Montérégie, Laval, Mauricie, as well as part of the Eastern Townships and the region of Centre-du-Québec. A separate decree provides for the minimum working conditions of employees working in the maintenance of public buildings in the Quebec region.

In addition, significant changes were recently made to the Montreal Decree. These amendments came into force on the date of the publication of the Decree to amend the Decree respecting building service employees in the Montreal region in the Gazette Officielle du Quebec, on November 9, 2011 (hereinafter, the New Montreal Decree).

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Kathleen Chevalier -

Bill 160, the Occupational Health and Safety Statute Law Amendment Act, 2011, as amended by the Standing Committee on Social Policy, passed at Third Reading in the Ontario Legislature on May 18, 2011.   Bill 160 is expected to receive Royal Assent shortly, at which time the majority of its provisions will come into force. 

As previously reported, the amendments set out in Bill 160 are intended to further increase worker safety by significantly amending Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.  Please consult Section 29 of Bill 160 for specific coming into force information.

Randall Boessenkool -

In Kafka v. Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, the Ontario Superior Court found that a proposed class action by former employees of Allstate who alleged that they were constructively dismissed is not suitable for certification.  The plaintiff, who resigned along with a large number of other employees following a policy change to the manner in which they were compensated, claimed that the unilateral change by Allstate to their compensation amounted to constructive dismissal on a class–wide scale. However, the court disagreed, and stated that the individual situation for each of the plaintiffs would have to be examined, and therefore this proceeding was no appropriate as a class action.

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Modifications to the Act respecting labour standards (the Act) pursuant to  Bill 125: An Act to facilitate organ and tissue donation will come into force on February 28, 2011.

Employers will thereon be required to grant a leave without pay to employees who undergo an organ or tissue donation upon the same conditions as those applicable to sick leave under the Act.

To benefit from this leave, an employee must however:

1. be credited with three months of uninterrupted service;
2. notify his employer as soon as possible of his absence and the reason for the absence; and
3.  when circumstances warrant, provide a medical certificate or any other document attesting the reason for his absence.

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On January 1, 2011, new provisions of the Act Respecting Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases (IAOD) entered into force. Pursuant to Section 323.2 of the IAOD and following, directors of a company can be held solidarily liable in the event that the company fails to pay an assessment to the CSST. As such, directors can be held liable with respect to a failure to pay any assessments, as well as any accrued interest and penalties incurred in relation to the assessment.

However, a defence of due diligence is available for directors. More specifically, a director cannot be held liable in the event where, in the circumstances, the director exercised a reasonable degree of care, diligence and skill or could not have been aware of the default of the company to pay the assessment.

These new provisions of the IAOD expose directors to a new liability which can be concerning for directors of a company having financial difficulties.

Diana Theophilopoulos

In a recent decision of the Court of Quebec, Mr. Pasquale Scrocca, a landscape contractor, was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death of one of his employees. While performing landscaping work at a commercial building, Mr. Scrocca was operating a backhoe, when the brakes of the vehicle failed and he collided into the employee. Experts confirmed that the vehicle was 30 years old, very poorly maintained and that the brakes were completely non-functional.

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Le 21 décembre dernier, la ministre québécoise du Travail, Lise Thériault, a annoncé une hausse prochaine du salaire minimum.   À compter du 1^er mai 2011, le salaire minimum présentement fixé à 9,50 $ l’heure sera porté à 9,65 $.  Le taux horaire des employés à pourboire sera quant à lui majoré de 0,10 $ l'heure pour s'établir à 8,35 $.  Avec cette hausse, le taux du salaire minimum du Québec demeure parmi les plus élevés des provinces canadiennes.

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Rappel à tous ! Dans quelques semaines tous les employeurs du Québec seront appelés à verser leur cotisation CSST directement à Revenu Québec. En effet, à compter du 1er janvier 2011, les primes d’assurance pour la CSST ne seront plus basées sur les salaires prévus mais bien sur les salaires versés.

Afin de bien renseigner les employeurs visés par ce nouveau mode de paiement, la CSST a publié un Guide explicatif du nouveau mode de paiement, incluant le détail du calcul du versement périodique.

À partir du 1er janvier 2011, les employeurs devront alors effectuer des versements à Revenu Québec en même temps que les déductions à la source et cotisations de l’employeur sur le bordereau de paiement soumis par Revenu Québec.

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Kathleen Chevalier

On November 29, the Open for Business Act was proclaimed into force in Ontario.  Schedule 9 of the Act amends certain provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the ESA) allowing for changes to the employment standards claim process to be implemented on January 19, 2011. 

The amendments are aimed at reducing and eliminating the current backlog of employment standards complaints by encouraging early resolution. This is to be accomplished in one of three ways:  (i) completion of certain steps by a complainant before assignment of the complaint to an Employment Standards Officer; (ii) an Employment Standards Officer’s power to assist parties to settle complaints; and (iii) an Employment Standards Officer’s power to decide complaints where a party fails to discharge certain obligations.

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The Ontario legislature has passed the Employment Standards Amendment Act (Temporary Help Agencies), 2009, which amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the Act) to include specific obligations for temporary help agencies with respect to their employees. The following highlights some of the key provisions in the amendments.

The amendments define "Assignment Employees" as individuals employed by a temporary help agency for the purpose of being assigned to perform work on a temporary basis for clients of the agency. The amendments clarify that the temporary help agency is in fact the employer of the Assignment Employees and that Assignment Employees do not cease to be employees of the agency because they have been assigned by the agency to perform work for a client on a temporary basis, or because they are not assigned to perform work for a client.

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