An Employee’s Guide to Ontario’s COVID-19 Shutdown

The Ontario Government announced its intention to expand the closure of all “non-essential” businesses on April 3, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement included plans to extend the shutdown to April 17, 2020 and to include new workplaces on the list of businesses that must be temporarily closed. But despite the media attention to this announcement, details of what exactly the shutdown means for employees have been... Read More

RavenLaw Appears Before Supreme Court on Charter Challenge

On December 12, 2019, RavenLaw appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada to argue in support of a Charter challenge to portions of the RCMP pension plan, which have been applied to prevent employees from buying back periods of service during which they had temporarily reduced hours of work for childcare reasons. RavenLaw appeared on behalf of the intervener, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, to argue that the pension... Read More

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit – Who Can and Who Cannot Apply

The Government of Canada has started accepting applications for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) this week, as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. While this benefit is going to provide crucial support to many who have lost income due to the pandemic, there are lingering questions about who has been excluded from the benefit, and whether the Government will provide further support to those who have... Read More

RavenLaw Supports the 20th Annual GCTC Lawyer Play Fundraiser

RavenLaw is proud to sponsor the 20th Annual County of Carleton Law Association/Great Canadian Theatre Company Lawyer Play. The annual fundraiser supports the operations of Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) and benefits a charity partner, which this year was St. Mary’s Home, an Ottawa-based social service agency that provides a full range of programs and services for young pregnant women, young moms and dads, and their infants and young children.... Read More

Ottawa Citizen Interviews Andrew Raven on International Women’s Day

As part of its coverage on International Women’s Day, the Ottawa Citizen interviewed Andrew Raven to discuss the 20th anniversary of the Federal Public Service Pay Equity settlement. Andrew had represented the Public Service Alliance of Canada in this historic pay equity complaint, which sought to address systemic gender-based wage discrimination across the federal public service. The final settlement, valued at $3.6 billion, affected over 200,000 federal government employees and... Read More

Anna Lichty Appointed to the Board of Directors for the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa

RavenLaw is pleased to announce that Anna Lichty has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa. The Kiwanis Club of Ottawa is a not-for-profit organization and registered charity with members who effect positive change within the Ottawa community by volunteering their time and raising funds for programs that promote youth literacy and leadership, help individuals with special needs and assist those struggling in the... Read More

Successive Periods of Total Disability

Attempting to return to work after receiving long-term disability insurance benefits can seem daunting. Many questions arise, but one we often hear is “what happens if I fail or get sick again?”  The short answer is that it depends on the amount of time that has passed since you returned work. You may start receiving long-term disability benefits again without having to wait.  Or in other words, without having to... Read More

Arbitrator Finds Failure to Exhaust Search for Accommodation

In a recent decision, a labour arbitrator found that an employer had failed to exhaust the search for accommodation options for an employee with a permanent disability before attempting to terminate her employment.  In Sodexo Canada Ltd v Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 145, Arbitrator Randi Abramsky recognized that the search for accommodation for the grievor’s disability had been a long and difficult one. Nonetheless, she determined that the... Read More

David Yazbeck Interviewed on Whistleblower Law for UK Publication

David Yazbeck was one of several experts from across the globe who was recently invited to speak on effective whistleblower protection with Financier Worldwide Magazine, based in Birmingham, UK. David provided his insight into establishing effective whistleblower protection, whether through legislation or through internal company policies. The article was published in February 2019 and can be found on the Financier Worldwide Magazine website. Read More

Arbitrator Overturns Termination for “Excessive” Absenteeism

In a recent victory for CUPE Local 109, Jessica Greenwood provided representation to an employee whose rights under the collective agreement and the Human Rights Code were violated due to an unfair termination of her employment. In the July 29, 2019 decision, Arbitrator Eli A. Gedalof affirmed that an employer cannot rely on a pattern of innocent absenteeism to establish frustration of contract when the absences are due to exceptional... Read More