The courts have always considered Quebec’s class action legislation to be strictly procedural and not modifying substantive law. Normally a person can only sue if he has a legal relationship with the defendant, meaning that he has a personal right of action. Thus, in the case of Bouchard v. Agropur coopérative et al,1 Mr. Justice J. Viens refused to authorize Bouchard to institute a class action against dairies from which he had not purchased milk. However, Mr. Justice M ...
A 100% Quebec Parental Insurance Plan A new Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) came into force on January 1, 2006. This plan provides for payment of benefits to all workers eligible for the plan who take a maternity leave, parental leave, paternity leave or adoption leave. This plan replaces the federal employment insurance plan. Beginning in 1996, Quebec informed Ottawa that it wanted to implement its own parental insurance plan ...
On 6 April 2006, new regulations, called the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment - TUPE - Regulations 2006 came into force to replace the well-known 1981 Regulations. These are the Regulations that make provision for protection of employees ? from dismissal and in their terms and conditions - where a business is transferred from one company to another. TUPE 2006 differs in a number of ways from the 1981 Regulations ...
In Hong Kong, some employers grant to employees more than one day off per week while the Employment Ordinance (“EO”) only requires the employer to grant one rest day in every period of seven days. Under such circumstances, there is a question as to whether the employees are entitled to an alternative holiday when the statutory holiday falls on a day off ...
In Hong Kong, it is quite common for employers to grant commission or allowance in addition to basic salary to the employees as part of the remuneration package. Under the EO, eligible employees are entitled to holiday and annual leave pay in respect of holiday or annual leave taken by the employees. There is a question as to whether commission is to be included in “wages” for the purpose of calculating the holiday and annual leave pay to the employees ...
On 23 December 2005, the District Court delivered its judgment on a sex and family status discrimination claim in the case of Lam Wing Lai v YT Cheng (Chingtai) Ltd DCEO 6/2004. The Defendant was a Hong Kong company carrying on the business of trading in industrial raw materials and the Plaintiff was employed as the secretary to the director between 21 May 2001 and 11 November 2002 ...
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (“MLSS”) issued the Letter on Issues Relevant to the Occupational Qualification Certificates Held by Foreigners Seeking Employment in China on 13 September 2005. The Letter is likely to make it more difficult for foreigners to take up employment in China in positions or jobs for which Occupational Qualification Certificates must be held ...
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (“MLSS”) issued the Letter on Issues Relevant to the Occupational Qualification Certificates Held by Foreigners Seeking Employment in China on 13 September 2005. The Letter is likely to make it more difficult for foreigners to take up employment in China in positions or jobs for which Occupational Qualification Certificates must be held ...
From 1 October 2006, new legislation comes into effect intended to combat age discrimination. During a recent series of seminars, commercial law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn carried out a survey of delegates to understand employers' concerns and see what efforts they are making to take the new law on board. More than one in four delegates claimed they themselves intended to work past the anticipated default retirement age of 65 while a further 15% were unsure ...
On December 31, 2005, amendments to Ontario’s Securities Act will come into effect to provide investors with a new recourse against companies and their directors, officers, employees and consultants for any misrepresentation in their public documents or public oral statements, or for failure to make timely disclosure of material changes in the company’s circumstances ...
Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), employers who provide group health plans and have 20 or more employees must offer continuation coverage to “qualified beneficiaries” who have lost health coverage as a result of certain qualifying events. This article addresses a number of common COBRA-related issues ...
Employment Law Update In This Issue... Change to Win Coalition Focuses on Certain Industries to Revitalize Labor Movement ...... 1 Boss’s Workplace Fling May Be Everybody’s Business ............. 2 Employers Must Recognize the “Duty to Act” ........................... 4 Work Eligibility and Citizenship — It May Be Time To Dust Off Those I-9s ................................... ...
On October 13, 2005, the Court of Appeal rendered judgment in two cases involving The Maritime Life Assurance Company and its insured, Madeleine Houle. In the first case, the Court of Appeal stated that the insurer is entitled to obtain a counter expertise by summoning its insured by writ of subpoena (art. 399 C.C.P.) even if it had its insured examined previously. In the second case, the Court ruled on the right of an insurer to have the insured examined by the expert of its choice (art ...
The recent decision of the Court of Quebec, Small Claims Division, in the case of Spénard v. Promutuel Bois-Francs, société mutuelle d’assurance générale,1 revisited the issue of the right of an insurer to seek the nullity of an insurance policy based on an insured’s failure to disclose a prior conviction under the Young Offenders Act. The Plaintiff claimed $5,100 from his insurer for property stolen from his home between January 24 and January 27, 2003 ...
The judgement of the European Court of Justice in case C-191/03 – North Western Health Board v ...
Overview On November 1, 2005, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that there is no legal requirement to disclose pension plan changes under consideration, as opposed to changes that are finalized. In so holding, it reversed the March 2004 trial decision in Hembruff v. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board, which decided that a plan admini¬strator negligently, and in breach of its fiduciary duty, failed to tell members of potential enhance¬ments to a plan’s early retire¬ment provisions ...
EC (Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency)) Regulations 2005, SI No. 630 of 2005 The Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency )Act 1984 established rights to certain payments for employees of insolvent companies. New Regulations from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment provide additional protections to employees of insolvent companies, amending and updating the 1984 Act ...
The treatment of women who feel they are being sexually harassed at work has changed significantly as a result of new regulations forcing employers to take more responsibility for the behaviour of their staff. The Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005 were implemented in October , overhauling the previous regime ...
You’ve probably heard about the dangers of second-hand smoke. But what about the employment-related danger of “second-hand” harassment? Consider this scenario: Mr. Jerk, a bank manager in the credit department, repeatedly harasses his administrative assistant, Gina. He invites Gina to have drinks with him, repeatedly touches her shoulders, and brushes up against her. Gina never complains to anyone in bank management about Jerk’s conduct ...
1.INTRODUCTION The Supreme Court of Canada last considered the issue of mandatory retirement in 1990. Since that time, the demographics of the workforce have changed such that the proportion of retired workers to employed workers is rapidly increasing. This change is due partially to the aging of the baby boom generation and partially due to longer life expectancies of people after retirement ...
The European Court of Justice has issued an important ruling which could have significant consequences for employers who operate occupational sick pay schemes. In the decision of McKenna v ...
Disciplinary investigations are becoming a minefield for employers, particularly where dismissal is a real likelihood ...
Until recently, employers in Ireland were only obliged to consult with employees in very limited circumstances, such as collective redundancies and transfer of undertakings. Those obligations will remain intact, however the provisions of the Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005, will provide employees in undertakings of at least 50 employees with the right to information and consultation in the workplace on a greater number of issues ...
Commentators have argued that the effect of this legislation is to force employers to recognise trade unions against their will as there appears to have been a move away from the traditional voluntarist approach to negotiations with trade unions towards a compulsory approach ...
Many employers have been in the potentially tricky and somewhat uncomfortable situation of having to withdraw an offer of employment before commencement. The ordinary principles of contract law apply here. Where an employer withdraws an offer, especially after formal acceptance, a breach of contract claim could arise, at least in theory ...
