On April 27, 2021, the Ontario Superior Court issued its decision in Coutinho v Ocular Health Centre Ltd., which appears to be the first reported case to consider Ontario Regulation 288/20, the Infectious Disease Emergency Leave Regulation. The Court held that the IDEL Regulation does not affect an employee’s right to pursue a civil claim for constructive dismissal at common law. more >
Bill 284, which received Royal Assent on April 29, 2021 and is now in force, implements Ontario’s Worker Income Protection Benefit, amending the Employment Standards Act, 2000 to require employers to provide employees with up to three days of paid leave for reasons related to COVID-19. more >
On April 25, 2021, Labour Arbitrator Jules Bloch issued a decision in Unilever Canada Inc. v United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 175, which involved a dispute regarding the enforceability of a mandatory COVID-19 testing policy implemented at a food processing plant operated by Unilever Canada Inc. (“Unilever”) in Simcoe, Ontario. more >
Ontario residents are required to remain indoors other than for certain essential purposes, including work that cannot be done remotely. more >
On December 17, 2020, the Ontario Government implemented Ontario Regulation 764/20, which allows unions and employers in the hospitality, tourism, and convention and trade show industries to negotiate for greater flexibility in the application of the default statutory rules governing the election rights of employees on layoff. more >
The Government of Ontario declared a second state of emergency and has issued a Stay-at-Home Order and additional public health measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. more >
On January 4, 2021, Toronto Public Health (TPH) announced that, as of January 7, 2021, it will be publishing information regarding COVID-19 workplace outbreaks in the City of Toronto. more >
On December 21, 2020, Premier Ford announced that Ontario will undergo a province-wide shutdown effective 12:01 AM on December 26, 2020. more >
Effective December 17, 2020, the temporary relief measures of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) implemented by O. Reg. 228/20: Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (the “Regulation”) have been extended to July 3, 2021. The extension of the “COVID-19 Period” in the Regulation ensures the measures implemented on May 29, 2020 remain in effect until at least July 3, 2021. These measures had previously been set to expire on January 2, 2021. The remaining aspects of the Regulations are unchanged and have been summarized in a previous post.
On Friday November 20, Premier Doug Ford announced that Toronto and Peel Region have been placed in the grey “lockdown,” stage for COVID-19 restrictions. The new restrictions take effect at 12:01am on Monday, November 23, 2020. more >