What is an illegal contract and is it enforceable? If an illegal contract is unenforceable, does the party who received its benefit get to keep that windfall? The short answer to the first question is that a contract is illegal when it is either contrary to a statute or is contrary to public policy. Generally, illegal contracts are not enforceable. The answer to the second questions is “it depends” ...
You have an unproductive employee. You suspect she isn’t getting her work done because she’s spending far too much time surfing the web and sending personal emails from her work computer during office hours. This will not do. So, you log on to her computer after hours to check her inbox and browser history. Sure enough, your suspicions are correct: she’s spending more time on Facebook than doing her job. Armed with this evidence, you call her into your office and dismiss her ...
Murray Campbell Lawson Lundell Craig Ferris Lawson Lundell This is a general overview of the subject matter and should not be relied upon as legal advice or opinion. For specific legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact your legal counsel. Copyright © 2004, Lawson Lundell All Rights Reserved INTRODUCTION Since the mid-1980s litigation has been a fact of life for pension and employee benefit plan administrators and sponsors ...
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 ...
The B.C. and federal government have announced new benefits for workers impacted by COVID-19. B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers The B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers will provide a one-time $1,000 payment to people who lost income because of COVID-19. B.C. residents who receive Employment Insurance (“EI”) or the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”, described below) will be eligible ...
Gender diversity on corporate boards is a hot issue in Canada. A recent report by TD Economics showed the extent of the disparity between Canada and other developed economies. Women represent only 11% of board members for companies in the S&P/TSX Composite Index, with 43% of boards being all-male and 28% having just one female board member ...
Today, the federal government introduced in Parliament Bill C-15, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. This blog provides some background on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the new federal bill. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNDRIP was passed by the UN General Assembly in 2007 ...
TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Recent and Proposed Governance Changes III. Institutional Scrutiny and Accountability IV. Inherent Governance Tensions V. Governance Regulation I. Introduction Corporate governance continues to be a hot topic. In Canada, we are at the stage of implementing a number of initiatives that have been enacted to follow the US lead in the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation ...
How can the government’s attitude and approach to internet issues best be described? The Canadian government recognises that Canada is a small country in a global economy and it pursues a general policy to ensure that Canada is ‘connected’ ...
On November 9, 2020, the federal government announced a further temporary extension to permitted layoff periods for federally regulated private-sector employees. Background In June of 2020, the federal government extended the time periods for layoffs under the Canada Labour Standards Regulations to allow federally regulated private-sector employers more time to recall laid-off employees ...
The Canadian government, concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on corporate valuations, has issued guidance that it will pay particular attention to foreign direct investments of any value (meaning, even investments that are not subject to review under the Investment Canada Act (the “ICA”)). The government’s announcement does not amend the ICA, nor any thresholds for review ...
Employers and employees in B.C. will soon benefit from a long-awaited and wide-ranging overhaul to the Pensions Benefits Standards Act (PBSA). Significant changes to how pensions are structured and administered in B.C. have followed the passing of Bill 38 on May 31, 2012. The Bill repeals and replaces the PBSA, which has remained largely unchanged since it was first introduced in 1993 ...
Human Resources and Skills Development/Service Canada (“HRSDC”) recently implemented Regional Occupations Lists (the “Lists”). The Lists are meant to “assist employers who are experiencing difficulty filling job vacancies due to labour market shortages ...
The March 4, 2010 Federal Budget introduced some targeted measures of interest to companies in the technology industry, as well as private equity and venture capital funds investing in technology companies ...
A. INTRODUCTIONThe development of transportation infrastructure in the Lower Mainland depends on expropriation of private property ...
In a judgment of 8 September 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that Member States are not allowed to exclude performers who are nationals of States outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”) from perceiving the equitable remuneration provided by Article 8(2) of the Rental and Lending Rights Directive ...
On September 26, 2013 the Supreme Court released its decision in the Envision1 case. The case deals with the amalgamation of two credit unions, but has broader implications for the tax treatment of amalgamations in Canada, and will be of interest to Canadian corporations contemplating a merger in the future. In 2001, two BC credit unions amalgamated to form Envision. The transaction was undertaken for non-tax reasons, but structured to obtain a particular tax outcome ...
On May 29, 2013, Alberta issued three regulations and two rules under the Responsible Energy Development Act (“REDA”). The new regulations and rules became operational on June 17, 2013, the same day that REDA came into force. With REDA, the regulations and the rules now in place, the new regulatory regime for energy development in Alberta has started to take shape ...
This paper discusses electricity sector developments in Alberta and British Columbia that continue to break new ground particularly in view of the recent prominence of renewable energy, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions issues and export market development initiatives for the export of electricity from clean or renewable sources.To read this paper, click here ...
Cory Grams died while at work at a Maple Leaf Metal Industries Ltd. (“Maple Leaf”) plant in Edmonton, Alberta. His parents, as beneficiaries and administrators of his estate, claimed damages against Maple Leaf for $92,000 for negligence in failing to provide insurance coverage under an employment contract. A claim against the insurer, Zurich, was settled prior to trial. Mr ...
Last year, we published a blog about things an employer should do before they terminate the employment of an employee. In recent years, employers are facing increasing claims for aggravated damages arising out of the manner in which the employer has carried out the termination of an employee’s employment. In order to minimize the possibility that aggravated damages will be awarded, here are our Do’s and Don’ts for employment termination meetings ...
The Supreme Court of Canada decision in R v Cole, 2012 SCC 53 may have a significant impact on how employers manage the use of digital devices in the workplace. While a constitutional and criminal decision at its core, the case nevertheless recognizes the importance of employees’ reasonable expectation of privacy when using work computers and other digital devices. In Cole, the accused was a high school teacher who was issued a laptop computer by his employer ...
In the recent decision of Giza v. Sechelt School Bus Service Ltd., 2012 BCCA 18 (“Giza”), the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (the “Court of Appeal”) held that an employee who quit his job after being given working notice of termination of employment was nevertheless entitled to sue for damages for wrongful dismissal for the period of reasonable notice in excess of the notice given.Mr ...
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