Is Pension Income Deductible from Wrongful Dismissal Damages as Mitigation Income?

Income a person receives from their pension is not considered "mitigation income" and does not reduce the wrongful dismissal damages payable by a former employer.

UncategorizedBen HahnApril 3, 2024Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Employment Law, Pension Income, Mitigation Income, Mitigation

Supreme Court Did Not Say The Word “Woman” Is Confusing

A recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada has been mischaracterized as a comment from Canada’s highest court about the use of the phrase “a woman.” In fact, the Supreme Court was just commenting on a technical point of clarity in the trial judge's legal writing. The court was not commenting upon the appropriateness of gendered language in speech.

UncategorizedBen HahnMarch 13, 2024Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Gender, Language, Gendered Language, Supreme Court of Canada, Woke, Culture Wars

Supreme Court of Canada Will Not Hear Appeal of Important Wrongful Dismissal Case

Canada's highest court won’t hear a further appeal of the Ontario Court of Appeal’s June 6, 2020 Waksdale decision which profoundly impacted the landscape of employment law for both employees and employers. Waksdale's impact will now continue for the foreseeable future.

UncategorizedBen HahnJanuary 14, 2021Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Wrongful Dismissal, Severance Pay, Severance Package, Severance, Termination Pay, Terminated

EI Sickness Benefits, Quarantine, and Self-Isolation Amidst COVID-19

Employee rights during the COVID-19 pandemic: You don't have to go to work. Your employer doesn't have to pay you, if you don't work. You may qualify for EI Sickness Benefits even without symptoms.

UncategorizedBen HahnMarch 21, 2020Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario

Bad Faith Conduct in the Manner of Dismissal: 2019 Year in Review

This article looks at wrongful dismissal cases in 2019 to see what Ontario judges thought was bad employer behaviour (and what wasn’t) and how much it was worth.

UncategorizedBen HahnJanuary 25, 2020Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario

No Punitive Damages for Date Rape Drug Slipped into Employee’s Coffee

An employee sued her employer for putting a date rape drug into her coffee. The court declined to order any punitive damages, reasoning that the non-custodial sentence already imposed in criminal court was appropriate punishment.

UncategorizedBen HahnJanuary 4, 2020Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Punitive Damages, Damages, Date Rape, Assault

Employee Must Name Names of Other Whistleblowers in Law Suit About Toxic Work Environment

Employees in a toxic work environment will sometimes share information with each other in confidence while avoiding a formal complaint to the employer out of fear of reprisal. But in a law suit, an employee may have to reveal names to the employer.

UncategorizedBen HahnNovember 23, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Harassment, Whistleblower, Source, Disclosure

There's No Probationary Period for New Employees Unless Expressly Agreed by Contract

Probationary periods are common but not automatic. If it isn't expressly agreed by contract, the law will not presume any period of probation for new employees.

UncategorizedBen HahnNovember 16, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Probation, Probation Period, Probationary Period

Wrongful Dismissal Pay is Reduced by All New Income, Even From a Low-Pay Job Taken in Desperation

Many lawyers and judges appear to have misread the Court of Appeal's 2017 decision in Brake v. PJ-M2R Restaurant Inc., 2017 ONCA 402 (CanLII), citing the case for a legal proposition which it never actually establishes.

UncategorizedBen HahnOctober 19, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Mitigation, Wrongful Dismissal, Termination Pay, Severance Pay, Common Law

An Hour Worked from Home Is an Hour of Work

If an employer permits an employee to work from home, that time spent working from home is still time spent on the job. It counts as an hour of work under the Employment Standards Act.

UncategorizedBen HahnOctober 8, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Work from Home, Work Hours, Wages, Payment of Wages

Terminated Employees Are Entitled to Pro-Rated Bonuses for Their Entire Notice Period

Terminated employees are entitled to receive a pro-rated bonus payment even when the bonus payout day falls outside their notice period. Only clear and unambiguous contractual language can alter or remove this common law right.

UncategorizedBen HahnSeptember 26, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Bonus, Pro-rated, Wrongful Dismissal, Termination Pay, Terminated, Dismissed, Clearn and Unambiguous, Contractual Language, Contract, Employment Contract, Pay in lieu of Notice

"Substantially More Than a Majority" of a Dependent Contractor's Income Must Come from One Client

Non-employee workers may be categorized as "dependent contractors" when they are "economically dependent" on a client. But this economic dependence must represent "substantially more than a majority" of the contractor's income.

UncategorizedBen HahnAugust 2, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerEmployment, Law, Ontario, Dependent Contractor, Reasonable Notice

Employers Can Insist on New Contracts When Employees Retract Resignation

When an employer permits an employee to retract a previously-accepted resignation, the employer can insist upon modified terms to the employment contract as a condition of continued employment, even where there has been no interruption of work.

UncategorizedBen HahnJune 12, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerContracts, Employment, Law, Ontario, Employment Standrds, Employment Standards, Employment Standards Act, Resign, Resignation, Quit, Quitting, Employment Contract, Consideration

What is a Record of Employment?

Don't let the name scare you. A Record of Employment isn't a centralized document accessible to employers detailing your past work performance or discipline history. It's just the name of a form used by Service Canada to assess your entitlement to Employment Insurance Benefits.

UncategorizedBen HahnJune 9, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerContracts, Employment, Law, Ontario, Employment Standrds, Record of Employment, Employment Insurance, Employment Insurance Act, Quit, Misconduct, Constructive Dismissal, Social Security Tribunal, EI Benefits

Human Rights Code Employment Protections Can Still Apply to Non-Employees

Human rights prohibitions against discrimination "with respect to employment" can extend to consultants, contractors, or other non-employee workers.

Pay Equity Rights in Ontario

Ontario has three legal regimes which address gender wage discrimination: human rights laws against workplace discrimination, employment standards for "equal pay for equal work," and pay equity legislation for "equal pay for work of equal value."

Can an Employer Force an Employee to Bank Vacation Time?

Yes, but with some restrictions. Ontario employers can direct when employees take vacation, but employment standards legislation requires employers to at least let employees take their minimum vacation entitlement within ten months of it accruing.

UncategorizedBen HahnApril 15, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerContracts, Employment, Law, Ontario, Employment Standrds, Vacation Time, Vacation Pay, Employment Standards, Employment Standards Act

What is "Wrongful Dismissal?"

For that matter, what is "unjust dismissal" or "constructive dismissal?" This article provides some brief definitions for these and other bits of employment law legalese.

Employer Rehires Supervisor Who Sexually Assaulted Employee

An Ontario employee was ordered to pay her former employer's legal fees after she made a "substantially unsuccessful" bid to sue her employer following its decision to rehire "her abuser," a former supervisor fired ten years earlier amidst sexual harassment complaints.

UncategorizedBen HahnApril 2, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerContracts, Employment, Fired, Law, Ontario, intentional infliction of mental suffering, Constructive Dismissal, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Bad Faith Conduct, Moral Damages, Legal Costs, Sexual Harassment

ONCA: "No Compelling Reason" to Recognize Harassment as Free-Standing Claim in Ontario

The Court of Appeal for Ontario has declined to recognize "harassment" as a free-standing basis to sue in Ontario.

UncategorizedBen HahnMarch 29, 2019Benjamin J. Hahn, Ontario Employment and Civil Litigation LawyerContracts, Employment, Fired, Law, Ontario, harassment, intentional infliction of mental suffering, Occuptational Health and Safety, Human Rights, Common Law, Torts, Cause of Action