Canadian Employment Law Today

March 24, 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.

Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/1354750

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PM41261516 A reasonable notice bonus PG.4 Supreme Court clarifies test for bonus damages and addresses employer obligations of good faith in Nova Scotia case THE ONTARIO Human Rights Tribunal has awarded $10,000 to a police officer for the Ontario Provincial Police's failure to accommodate her properly when it denied her the clearance to use equipment she needed for certain advancement opportunities, after she returned to work following a cancer diagnosis. Lisa Kurpel was a constable for the Ontario Provin - cial Police (OPP), joining the police force in 1995. In March 2003, Kurpel injured her ankle in a workplace accident and had to stay off work for six weeks. The injury led to her having a limited range of motion that prevented her from performing the full range of duties of a uniformed police constable, so when she returned to work, the OPP put her in an accommodated position. However, she was given back her use-of-force equipment (UOF) — a baton, pepper spray, handcuffs, Taser and a service pistol. In November 2006, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) determined that her an - kle injury had reached maximum medical recovery and a functional abilities evaluation concluded that the job was "heavy level work" and Kurpel had "the strength to perform a predominantly medium job THE ONTARIO Superior Court of Justice has affirmed, in a recent wrongful dismissal decision, that courts will look beyond a dismissed employee's title when assessing the character of their employment to determine their common law reasonable notice entitlements. George v. Laurentian Bank Securities Inc. also affirms that courts will not always provide inflated common law reasonable notice entitlements to short- service employees and older employees. Termination entitlements When an employee's employment is termi - nated, they generally have two different types of termination entitlements — statutory entitle- ments under employment standards legislation and common law entitlements. March 24, 2021 Old contract provisions no good for setting termination pay PG.3 Ontario company overlooked offer letter with executive's new position that superseded old contract when it terminated him ALL EMPLOYEES on page 6 » CREDIT: BALKANSCAT iSTOCK CREDIT: PETERSPIRO iSTOCK POLICE FORCE on page 7 » with Brian Johnston Ontario police officer not accommodated enough Police force withheld use-of-force equipment from officer with physical limitations Ask an Expert PG. 2 Office perks in a hybrid workplace Reasonable notice: beyond the job label Ontario court awards short notice period to older, short-service employee based on the nature of the job, not the job title BY JEFFREY R. SMITH BY JOEL SMITH AND MARK WOLFE

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