Canadian Employment Law Today

February 10, 2021

Focuses on human resources law from a business perspective, featuring news and cases from the courts, in-depth articles on legal trends and insights from top employment lawyers across Canada.

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PM41261516 Termination provision done in by 'what if?' PG.4 Termination provisions that could hypothetically violate ESA due to a job change that removes legal exemption from notice or termination pay are unenforceable: Ontario court AN ALBERTA worker's verbal warning and suspension were not related to a discrimination complaint she filed against her employer, but the decision to move her off the same shift as her husband constituted retaliation for the complaint, according to the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal. Olga Way-Patenaude worked as a privy truck driv - er for Clean Harbors Energy and Industrial Services Corp., a technical and industrial field service pro- vider for various industries. After she was hired in July 2012, she began working on Syncrude's Aurora Mine near Fort McMurray, Alta. Way-Patenaude's husband was also hired at the same time. During their job interviews, they asked that they both be placed on the same crew so they could have the same schedule — drivers were as - signed two to a truck, working six days in a row, with three days on the day shift followed by three days on the night shift and then six days off — to which the company agreed as it generally made efforts to keep couples on the same schedule unless opera - tional need took priority. The interviewer told them he would "do his best" to keep them on the same SINCE ALMOST the beginning of 2020, employers and business leaders across industries have been riding the COVID-19 rollercoaster. Time became warped, business was disrupted and legal compliance with the rapidly changing landscape became critical. Nausea and anxiety were not uncommon. Fortunately, 2020 has also been a year of growth for organizations as they have become more resilient and adaptive to change, with a close eye on the impact of the legal developments on their businesses. As HR lawyers, it has been our team's privilege to guide numerous organi - zations through the legal challenges they tackled head on, with hands firmly clasped to the roller- coaster grab bars. We summarize for you below the major legal developments of 2020 that are February 10, 2021 Valid settlement, release quashes discrimination claim PG.3 Worker's claims she was coerced into settlement she didn't understand not credible: tribunal ACCOMMODATION on page 6 » CREDIT: ALEXSL iSTOCK WORKER on page 7 » with Amy Gibson Alberta worker's retaliation complaint sees mixed results Employer had legitimate reasons for warning, suspension but not for moving worker off of same shift as spouse Ask an Expert PG. 2 Avoiding inducement during recruitment Rollercoaster ride of 2020 re-enforces need for employer preparedness Legislation, case law during COVID-19 pandemic put focus on both new and traditional areas of concern for employers BY JEFFREY R. SMITH BY LAURA WILLIAMS AND IOANA PANTIS

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