Know Your Rights—Determining the Terms and Conditions of your Employment

If you have a potential legal issue related to your employment, the first question you must ask is: what are my rights as an employee? Put another way: what are the terms and conditions of my employment? Those terms and conditions will determine what you are entitled to if you are fired, or whether the employer can change your working conditions without your agreement. The terms of your employment come... Read More

Kim Patenaude to Present at Lancaster House Conference

Kim Patenaude will be presenting a Post-Conference workshop on “Dealing with Discharge and Discipline: Progressive discipline, mitigating and aggravating factors, disability-related issues, union representation, post-discharge rehabilitation” for Lancaster House on Friday, December 12 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto. Read More

What is Mitigation?

If you have brought, or are considering bringing, a claim against your employer for wrongful dismissal, you may believe that you can sit back and watch daytime TV, waiting to recover your damages from the employer. That is not the case: you have a duty to “mitigate” your damages.  Mitigating or reducing your damages by seeking alternate work Mitigation means reducing the damages you have sustained by reason of the... Read More

David Yazbeck to co-chair – Andrew Astritis to speak at – Lancaster House Toronto Labour Arbitration Conference

On December 11, 2014, Lancaster House is holding its annual Toronto Labour Arbitration conference, with workshops taking place before and after. David Yazbeck will be acting as the Union-side Co-chair for the conference and will participate as a moderator on a number of panels. Andrew Astritis will be speaking as union counsel on the panel dealing with family status discrimination. Lancaster House is a leader in providing information on labour,... Read More

Income Tax & Your Settlement Agreement: 7 Things to Consider

No matter what kind of employment problem you are facing—e.g. a claim for wrongful dismissal, constructive dismissal, or a human rights complaint—you may ultimately decide to settle your case for some form of compensation, rather than proceeding to a hearing. In that case, it is worth taking the time to think about the best way to structure your settlement agreement because different kinds of agreements and different kinds of compensation... Read More

David Yazbeck to moderate panel on “Harassment and the toxic work environment: Examining rights and remedies”

On December 17, 2014, David Yazbeck will be moderating the Lancaster House Panel on Harassment and the Toxic Work Environment: Examining Rights and Remedies. This is one of a series of audio conferences presented by Lancaster House on a variety of topics affecting the workplace. Mr. Yazbeck has often acted as a moderator and speaker on these conferences. For more information about this particular audio conference, visit the Lancaster House... Read More

What To Do If (and When) Your Claim For Long Term Disability (“LTD”) Insurance is Denied

The process for successfully claiming long-term disability (“LTD”) insurance benefits can be complex and lengthy (See our article on “Navigating your Claim for Long-Term Disability (LTD) Insurance”). Unfortunately, part of that process often includes responding to a denial of your claim by the insurance company. This article summarizes the key steps to take if your disability claim has been denied. When are you likely to be turned down for LTD... Read More

Office Closure

Our office will be closed on Monday, December 15th from 1:30 pm  to 5:00 pm. We will return to regular office hours on Tuesday, December 16th. Read More

FCA clarifies duties of Canadian Human Rights Commission to investigate complaints

The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned a decision of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, in which the Commission rejected a human rights complaint against the Bank of Nova Scotia at the pre-investigation stage. The Appellant, Robert McIlvenna, had a mortgage with the Bank, and had applied for an additional line of credit to perform renovations on the mortgaged house, which was occupied by his son and daughter-in-law. The Bank... Read More

Arbitrator confirms that mistakes at work do not constitute “Major Misconduct”

On November 27, 2014, Arbitrator Frederick von Veh issued a decision reinstating a Canada Post motorized letter carrier after he was terminated for working with an expired driver’s license. The Arbitrator found that the employee had not acted deliberately and that he had simply forgotten to renew his license – “he made a mistake”.  Arbitrator von Veh concluded that inadvertent errors do not constitute “major misconduct”, a term often used... Read More