COUNSEL, RISK MANAGEMENT AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT

Labour Relations

We advise clients on the Ontario Labour Relations Act and Canada Labour Code. We regularly provide advice to employers on issues such as: union organizing drives and certification, unfair labour practice allegations, sale of business/related employer, bad faith bargaining complaints, strikes and lockouts, picketing, and jurisdictional disputes.

Sale of Business and Restructuring

We advise employears about the form of restructuring in order to minimize liabilities, guide clients with respect to their numerous obligations and help communicate decisions to employees and unions. When a business is purchased or sold, the transaction may affect a number of areas, including offers of employment, termination and severance, employment standards entitlements, pensions and benefits and labour relations considerations. We provide legal services to address clients’ needs in this area in a timely and effective manner.

Employment Standards

We advise employers and provide opinions on their obligations under federal and provincial employment standards legislation. We also represent employers before Employment Standards Officers, the Labour Relations Board and labour arbitrators.

Employment Contracts

We have expertise in drafting effective written employment contracts including contracts for senior executives and other employees whose compensation arrangements or terms of employment may be specialized or complex. Our lawyers draft employment contracts which accurately record the parties’ employment rights, obligations and expectations. In this way, we assist employers to minimize and manage otherwise unintended and costly disputes.

Wrongful Dismissal

We regularly provide advice about all aspects of wrongful and constructive dismissal law. Courts increasingly scrutinize the manner by which an employee is terminated. Reasonable notice periods and the range of damages available to employees who are improperly terminated have been increasing.

We assist clients to manage the employment relationship and counsel clients throughout the entire termination process. We advise employers how to structure severance packages where no cause exists. We work with employers to avoid constructive dismissal claims especially during restructuring initiatives. Our lawyers help clients build and document cases they can successfully defend at trial, if necessary, in cases where just cause exists.

Human Rights

We counsel employers during the investigation, mediation and litigation phases of human rights complaints. We provide assistance at the investigation, response and hearing stages in the event of a complaint. As well, we assist clients to negotiate settlements that protect their interests. Our lawyers have extensive experience with the Commission’s investigation and mediation processes and accordingly, often are successful in having complaints dismissed at an early stage.

We regularly assist employers in the development and implementation of proactive human rights policies and practices. We are frequently requested to provide risk management advice and give opinions regarding the duty to accommodate, sexual harassment, drug and alcohol testing, discrimination and other human rights issues.

Attendance Management

Attendance management programs can be important workplace tools if effectively implemented. We can guide you through the complex legal and practical issues related to attendance management policies and programs.

Judicial and arbitral principles, the Human Rights Code and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act raise complex considerations. We provide counsel, guidance and advocacy before the courts, boards of arbitration, human rights tribunals and workplace safety and insurance tribunals.

Health & Safety

We help employers regulated under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act or the Canada Labour Code, to understand their health and safety obligations and responsibilities. We advise and represent employers with respect to matters such as: defending prosecutions; dealing with government orders and appeals; developing and monitoring health and safety policies; assessing and minimizing liabilities; and handling work refusals effectively.

Information & Privacy

We assist employers to interpret their responsibilities under privacy legislation and in implementing appropriate policies and practices. We also assist employers to respond to requests for the release of information and to defend their decisions should they be challenged. Our experience in this area is very valuable to employers due to the increasing awareness in society of privacy concerns, which concerns also are being raised ever more frequently in arbitrations and civil litigation.

Workplace Safety & Insurance

We assist our clients in understanding how best to deal with issues including: accident investigation and reporting; communication with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB); returning injured workers to work; labour market re-entry; and the legislative rights and responsibilities of employers and workers.

We offer a comprehensive claims management program to assist employers in managing their costs. We also advise on employer registration classification and penalty assessment matters. Additionally, we are experienced representing employers in hearings before the Board and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal.